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Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

I agree entirely. That is a strong tangential point to the one that I hope I am making. I would have thought that if one did not have an advocate in such circumstances, the chances that a number of cases would transgress article 6 and other parts of the convention would be very high indeed. An inquiry would take place extra-territorially, which is extremely undesirable when we ought to be able to do it ourselves. I have wearied the Committee with this example. I hope that it is thought to be one that is reasonable in the circumstances and likely to occur in a number of serious cases. I have thought about a way around that and I can find none. It prompts one particular question, which has something to do with angels and pins: who precisely does the special counsel represent and what is his role? That is not difficult. The special counsel is manifestly a minister of justice in the same way as everybody else. He is there to see that justice is done. One of his roles is precisely the same as that of a Special Immigration Appeals Commission counsel, who talks to the representative of the terrorist or suspected terrorist who is subject to a control order, finds out what his instructions are, and conveys those instructions back to the tribunal to which he has unique and independent access. I can see nothing wrong with that, but I can see enormous advantages, particularly as it is a power that will be rarely used. It will be used only in the most serious cases and when judges, in accordance with that, perceive the need for that additional power. I shall listen with interest to see what the Government say is wrong with that. So far, I have heard nothing on it. I dare say that something will come, but this is an attempt to be as helpful as one possibly can be.