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Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

I thank my noble friend Lady Mallalieu for tabling the amendment. She has highlighted a number of issues and has given us the opportunity to look at them and to give a better and proper explanation. I say straightaway that I agree with her on the importance of the prosecutor knowing the identity of each witness. Members of the Committee will know that the prosecutor’s role is to present to the court any relevant information that may be available pertaining to the issues under discussion—both those which assist the defendant and those which assist the prosecutor. It would be very important for the prosecutor to be aware of the defence witness, as my noble friend Lady Mallalieu says, in order to make available any unused material that may assist the parties in the trial. Amendment No. 2 will require the court to be informed of the identity of the anonymous witness in all cases. We are clear that in the overwhelming majority of cases the court will be informed of the identity of the person in respect of whom an application for an anonymity order has been made. However, there will be the rare case in which the identity of, for example, an undercover agent—particularly a member of the Security Service—should be divulged to as few people as possible. In such cases, the prosecution will explain the circumstances to the court, and it would then be open to it to direct, if the judge so wished, that in that instance the application did not need to identify the witness concerned. It would be entirely up to the court to determine whether that disclosure should take place. I hope that that clarifies the position. The amendment overlaps with government Amendment No. 2A, and I thank my noble friend for understanding that in bringing it forward the Government were seeking to be helpful. We listened very carefully to the tenor and substance of the debate in the other place and here, and we were anxious to do the best we could to ensure that we had the appropriate level of coverage. Amendments Nos. 3 and 4, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, would require applications for anonymity orders to be heard in chambers. That means that the press and public would be excluded, but it does not mean that automatically a witness’s identity would be protected from any other party. I am just pausing for a moment because this group included Amendments Nos. 3 and 4, but I am conscious that the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, has not spoken to them.