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Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

I support what the noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan, has just said. We should not lose sight of the fact that the Bill comes into force on the day it is passed, which could be very swiftly. Judges will have to deal, under the provisions of Clause 10, with proceedings that are already part-way through. No doubt there is going to be a flood of applications to review the orders that have already been made. Judges will be under pressure to deal with them as soon as possible so that people can prepare for the trials that are in the pipeline, and they are going to be asked to do it well before the rules committee has begun to produce the necessary guidelines. If we pass this emergency legislation without giving the judiciary the tools they will undoubtedly need desperately in the next few months, then in my view we are not doing the job we should be doing.