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Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

I thank the Government for Government amendment No. 41, which makes it clear that there has to be a hearing, and that no trial will be held entirely on paper, unless that is what all the parties involved agree to. I want to make some remarks about the independent counsel. I am quite attracted to amendment No. 2 and new clause 7. I hope that the Government can make some movement on those proposals or persuade me that there is no need for an independent counsel. As a lay person—I am a solicitor, but I have not done much criminal law, and even then not for many years—it seems to me that fairness demands that there should be an independent counsel. I understand from the helpful remarks made by my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Medway (Mr. Marshall-Andrews) that similar systems are in place elsewhere. I remember the discussions that we had with the Special Immigration Appeals Commission about what should be done in respect of terrorist and other cases, and it seems to me that an independent counsel could be of great assistance both for fairness and the for appearance of fairness. The appearance of fairness is of particular importance in our criminal system. We in this House must always be careful when we are dealing with matters such as these. Many of our constituents see terrible behaviour in their communities. They would like to be witnesses, but think it only right that they should have anonymity. Quite understandably, they overlook the existence of the balance that we have been talking about—that is, that a defendant should have some idea of the case being made against him and of who is assisting that case, most likely as a prosecution witness. As we have noted, it is very important that the system should not be stacked in such a way that innocent people end up being convicted because they cannot test the evidence against them properly. When that happens, we have a double problem: an innocent goes to prison—that is not desirable at all—while the person who committed the crime and created the mayhem is allowed to run around outside. We need a fair and properly balanced system, one in which evidence is tested in favour of anonymity, and to that end, an independent counsel who would ““assist the court””, as both amendment No. 2 and new clause 7 propose, would be desirable. I hope that, if the Lord Chancellor is replying to this debate—