Parliamentary Search

Debate on bill and Committee of the Whole House (HC) on Tuesday, 8 July 2008, in the House of Commons, led by Jack Straw. The answering member was Lord Herbert of South Downs.

Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill. Allocation of time motion for proceedings on Bill. Agreed to on division (283 votes to 145). Second reading debate. Agreed to on question. House resolved itself into a Committee. Committee stage. Clauses 1-2, 4 and 8-14 agreed to. Clauses 3 and 5-7 agreed to as amended. New Clause 9 agreed to. Report stage (formal). Third reading (formal). Bill passed.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
478 c1286-378 
Session
2007-08
Department
Ministry of Justice
Legislative stage
Committee stage
Third reading
Report stage
Second reading
Procedure
Allocation of time motions
New clauses
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Witness Anonymity
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Parliamentary proceedings
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 478 c1316 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind the House that Mr. Speaker has placed an eight-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches, ...
Geoffrey Cox | 478 c1375 (Link to this contribution) I am not trying to be difficult.
Show all contributions (247)
Maria Eagle | 478 c1375 (Link to this contribution) I am certainly willing to go away, put a wet towel around my head and have another think about the i...
Geoffrey Cox | 478 c1375 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I can propose a helpful solution. It may be that what is meant in subsection (6) is whether ...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1375-6 (Link to this contribution) I always speak for myself. I am perfectly happy to go away and have a think about what the hon. and ...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1375 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. and learned Gentleman is not trying to be difficult; I have never met a lawy...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1374 (Link to this contribution) Yes. The order may be in the interests of justice if the witness opines that he will not testify bec...
Speaker | 478 c1378 (Link to this contribution) That is not, strictly speaking, a matter for the Chair to rule on, and many of the points that the h...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1378 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I apologise for getting ahead of myself and interrupting yo...
Speaker | 478 c1378 (Link to this contribution) No, no. I think that I can deal with it now. The points that the hon. and learned Member for Harboro...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1378 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 478 c1377 (Link to this contribution) Order. I understand the point of order that the hon. and learned Gentleman is seeking to make, but f...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1376 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Sir Michael. We have less than a minute to deal with the rest of the business w...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1339 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the hon. Gentleman will forgive my observing that if we had had more time, we would be g...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1338 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not agree that the purpose of the amendments and new clauses drafted by him ...
David Howarth | 478 c1338 (Link to this contribution) That appears to be what happens in the New Zealand example, and it is one way in which I would expec...
Elfyn Llwyd | 478 c1338 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman's argument. When I questioned the Justice Secretary earlier, he shoo...
David Howarth | 478 c1339 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely right. This idea solves a lot of problems, which is why I am confused and unclear ...
David Howarth | 478 c1338 (Link to this contribution) On the hon. and learned Lady's point about magistrates courts, this seems to add yet another problem...
Vera Baird | 478 c1337-8 (Link to this contribution) I doubt whether the situation is as the hon. Gentleman says. As I understand it, magistrates would b...
David Howarth | 478 c1338 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely right. Our new clause is explicit, but my impression is that the amendments and ne...
David Heath | 478 c1338 (Link to this contribution) I really cannot understand the Government's argument that there is a lack of clarity about the couns...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1358-9 (Link to this contribution) I rise to speak—I hope fairly briefly—to amendments Nos. 3 to 8, which stand in my name. I shall tak...
Elfyn Llwyd | 478 c1359 (Link to this contribution) To bolster his argument as he sums up to the jury, the judge tells them that they should come to a c...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1359 (Link to this contribution) I believe in using language that says exactly what is meant. The danger is that the word ““satisfied...
Jack Straw | 478 c1354 (Link to this contribution) Yes, and it is always dangerous to keep him away from his dinner, so I commend the amendments in my ...
David Howarth | 478 c1354 (Link to this contribution) On amendment No. 35, we have heard that clause 3(2) is not fit for purpose. It tries to deal with to...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1358 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment No. 3, in page 2, line 31, leave out 'satisfied' and insert 'sure'.
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 478 c1358 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 4, page 2, line 31, leave ...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1353-4 (Link to this contribution) I think that my right hon. Friend is in danger of mixing up the special advocate process with the in...
Jack Straw | 478 c1354 (Link to this contribution) I was doing my best not to confuse myself, and I hope that I did not do so on that occasion. We can ...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1361-2 (Link to this contribution) I support, to some extent, the arguments of my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Sleaford...
Geoffrey Cox | 478 c1360 (Link to this contribution) I propose to my right hon. and learned Friend an example from my own experience. In a case involving...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1360-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. and learned Friend makes a perfectly sound point and a good case. However, the language of s...
Evan Harris | 478 c1360 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Gentleman will be supported in his argument that the paragraph should be ...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1360 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. If there is a requirement other than to protect undercover agen...
Geoffrey Cox | 478 c1359 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. and learned Friend give way?
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1359 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way first to the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris).
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1359 (Link to this contribution) I shall finish my point, then of course I shall give way. I would like to confine anonymity protect...
Rob Marris | 478 c1348 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that sedentary clarification. If the Government do not thi...
David Howarth | 478 c1349 (Link to this contribution) I should say to the Lord Chancellor that I do not intend to press that amendment. One of its main pu...
Jack Straw | 478 c1349 (Link to this contribution) I will come to that in a moment. Current practitioners in the House at the moment have far more expe...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 478 c1346 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend may well be coming to this point, but will he deal with what appears to be an immedia...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1346 (Link to this contribution) The starting point would be a hearing before the judge, as happens now. Government amendment No. 41 ...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1346 (Link to this contribution) Might I suggest that one answer to the question from the hon. and learned Member for Medway (Mr. Mar...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1346-7 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Gentleman is right, and what he suggests would have to be on an ex parte ...
Rob Marris | 478 c1347-8 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Government for Government amendment No. 41, which makes it clear that there has to be a ...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 478 c1352-3 (Link to this contribution) Will the Lord Chancellor go one stage further than that? The Bill is an uncovenanted bonus, in that ...
Jack Straw | 478 c1353 (Link to this contribution) Yes, that is a very sensible suggestion; I will do that. I do not know whether the possibility of co...
Rob Marris | 478 c1352 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend said that there was not enough time to introduce a statutory scheme under the B...
Jack Straw | 478 c1352 (Link to this contribution) Yes, of course. My undertaking is that before we publish that Bill, I will indeed give active and ur...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1349 (Link to this contribution) It has never stopped the right hon. Gentleman in the past.
Jack Straw | 478 c1349-50 (Link to this contribution) That may be so, but the point was absent from the argument of those who said that the importance of ...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1351 (Link to this contribution) I take a position that is slightly different from that of my hon. and learned Friend the Member for ...
Jack Straw | 478 c1351-2 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the right hon. and learned Gentleman for making my point in a rather more...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1350 (Link to this contribution) I am fascinated by the Secretary of State's story. In the absence of a special counsel, I would acc...
Jack Straw | 478 c1351 (Link to this contribution) The answer to the hon. and learned Gentleman's point was given earlier in the debate. For sure, the ...
Evan Harris | 478 c1367-8 (Link to this contribution) I think that it is, because we have to draw the line on threats somewhere. Public policy perhaps sho...
David Howarth | 478 c1368-9 (Link to this contribution) I have not tabled any of the amendments in this group, but I want to make a couple of comments on so...
Geoffrey Cox | 478 c1369 (Link to this contribution) The first two lines of clause 4(6) state:"““In determining whether the measures to be specified in t...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1370 (Link to this contribution) Ultimately, condition C is the test to determine the seriousness of a threat. It asks whether"““it i...
David Howarth | 478 c1370 (Link to this contribution) Fear is inherently an internal state. Some fears can be judged by others to be reasonable and some t...
David Howarth | 478 c1370-1 (Link to this contribution) That is a good point. The question is whether the degree of coercion is great enough to justify the ...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1369 (Link to this contribution) May I line myself up for an undergraduate bashing from the hon. Gentleman? I do not want to destroy ...
David Howarth | 478 c1369 (Link to this contribution) That is a better point, because courts are being asked to judge fear as a way of helping to judge sa...
Rob Marris | 478 c1370 (Link to this contribution) I only did two years of academic law study—I did not get to the third year. Does the hon. Gentleman ...
David Howarth | 478 c1370 (Link to this contribution) I think that it will work by the court taking the witness's set of fears and eliminating the unreaso...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1372 (Link to this contribution) He is making a common-sense assessment on the basis of the statutory framework that we are offering ...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1372 (Link to this contribution) We need a clearer answer from the Minister in response to my right hon. and learned Friend's questio...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1371-2 (Link to this contribution) We have had an extensive debate on this group of amendments. At times it has been confusing, at othe...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1372 (Link to this contribution) The judge has to say, ““To what standard am I satisfied?””
Maria Eagle | 478 c1374 (Link to this contribution) Before a judge can make an order under the scheme, he will have to be of the opinion that whatever m...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1372-4 (Link to this contribution) The judge is not making a finding of fact that is germane to the outcome of the trial. He is decidin...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1372 (Link to this contribution) Moving her head. I am reasonably sure—I am satisfied—that the Solicitor-General was moving her head....
Lord Garnier | 478 c1362 (Link to this contribution) Thank you very much. I am most grateful to the Solicitor-General. [Interruption.] I have argued that...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1363 (Link to this contribution) I cannot tell what the hon. Gentleman may or may not have missed, but, as far as I am concerned, whe...
Evan Harris | 478 c1362-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. and learned Gentleman's amendment No. 22 proposes inserting the words"““assess the reasonab...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1363 (Link to this contribution) It may be—we will find out. If the hon. and medical Gentleman—sometimes curative, but not always—und...
Evan Harris | 478 c1363 (Link to this contribution) The hon. and learned Gentleman has hit the question. My reading of the provision in other statute is...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1363 (Link to this contribution) I disagree with the hon. Gentleman's final point. I think he is confused.
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1363 (Link to this contribution) I tend to agree with the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) that the test is obj...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1364 (Link to this contribution) All those suggestions are helpful. Whereas I have sown confusion, it may well be that my hon. and le...
Geoffrey Cox | 478 c1363-4 (Link to this contribution) Surely the problem is that condition C requires the judge to be satisfied that the witness would not...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1364-5 (Link to this contribution) Shone confusion sounds like an Irish female pop singer, does it not? I must confess that my knowledg...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1365-6 (Link to this contribution) I must say that I found the remarks by the hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier) at t...
Evan Harris | 478 c1366 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the Committee. I had an amendment in the previous gr...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1366 (Link to this contribution) I was about to make that point. I think that I just said that if a house is fire-bombed, there would...
Evan Harris | 478 c1366 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that that is the best argument. As the hon. Gentleman knows, in a case such as the At...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1367 (Link to this contribution) But surely public policy cannot allow a person who wishes to intimidate a witness out of giving evid...
Evan Harris | 478 c1367 (Link to this contribution) I am not an expert in this area, and I am warned by my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (David H...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1367 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give me an example—I am looking at clause 4(6)(b)—of ““serious damage to pro...
Evan Harris | 478 c1366-7 (Link to this contribution) As a result of that, I was able to fulfil another engagement and leave it to him to put the case, as...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 478 c1341 (Link to this contribution) I shall not detain the Committee for long, but I wished to address the powers of independent counsel...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1339-41 (Link to this contribution) I largely agree with the broad thrust of what the hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth) has said...
David Howarth | 478 c1339 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that e-mail works rather better than ordinary mail did in the old days, but in principle I...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1344 (Link to this contribution) That is entirely right, although of course confusion does currently arise when an independent or spe...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1343 (Link to this contribution) I rise briefly to endorse what the hon. and learned Member for Medway (Mr. Marshall-Andrews) has sai...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 478 c1342-3 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely. That is a strong tangential point to the one that I hope I am making. I would hav...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1342 (Link to this contribution) Might I suggest to the hon. and learned Gentleman a further advantage? If one is right to think that...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 478 c1342 (Link to this contribution) With great respect, if the hon. and learned Gentleman does not mind, I do not want to go down that i...
Geoffrey Cox | 478 c1342 (Link to this contribution) What does the hon. and learned Gentleman think is the difference between the situation that he is ou...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1344 (Link to this contribution) Yes, indeed. My hon. and learned Friend is quite right. In all the legislation in which special coun...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1344 (Link to this contribution) May I remind my right hon. and learned Friend about the specific provisions in the Special Immigrati...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1344 (Link to this contribution) I rise to speak to new clause 6, which is my proposal on independent counsel. But before doing so, I...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1345-6 (Link to this contribution) If that is the case, there is no problem. I do not see any significant difficulty with clause 3(2), ...
David Howarth | 478 c1345 (Link to this contribution) Is not that explanation a further argument for rethinking clause 3(2)? It seems that it is intended ...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1344-5 (Link to this contribution) I shall finish the point and then give way. It is probably more likely that defence witnesses would...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1344 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1345 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is entirely right, and it would be appropriate for the prosecution to be able to inve...
Rob Marris | 478 c1345 (Link to this contribution) Might not a witness who has been called by one defendant apply for an order because he is worried ab...
David Howarth | 478 c1337 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to be accused of anticipating a future debate, but this issue is precisely that raised...
David Howarth | 478 c1337 (Link to this contribution) That is an issue for a future debate on a later clause, and I would prefer not to spend the Committe...
Jack Straw | 478 c1337 (Link to this contribution) With great respect to the hon. Gentleman, the question that the hon. and learned Member for Torridge...
David Howarth | 478 c1336-7 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. and learned Gentleman says, it would also be less expensive than fighting retrials. In a...
Geoffrey Cox | 478 c1337 (Link to this contribution) What does the hon. Gentleman think should be the test for the judge in listening to the report of th...
David Howarth | 478 c1335-6 (Link to this contribution) That is a problem, but it is one that arises in the ordinary case in any event, because in most case...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1335 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but is there none the less not a difficulty in that if the inde...
David Howarth | 478 c1334-5 (Link to this contribution) Amendment No. 35 relates to clause 3(2), but many other amendments and new clauses tabled by Members...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 478 c1334 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: Government amendment No. 40. ...
Lord Cormack | 478 c1288-9 (Link to this contribution) I completely understand the general drift of the hon. Lady's argument and do not quarrel with it. Ho...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1289 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is slightly misinformed. The other place will have two half days, equating to one...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1286-8 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the following provisions shall apply to the Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity...
David Heath | 478 c1290 (Link to this contribution) I fully understand why the hon. Lady wants to accelerate proceedings. I have listened carefully to h...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1289-90 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the general point that the hon. Gentleman makes in that there is some danger in hasty l...
Philip Davies | 478 c1289 (Link to this contribution) We all agree that it is a good idea to provide protection for brave witnesses who want to give evide...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1289 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is stealing my thunder. The Government have tried to act consensually, given the ...
Elfyn Llwyd | 478 c1289 (Link to this contribution) Having read the Davis judgment and listened to the beginning of the Minister's speech, I agree that ...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1290-1 (Link to this contribution) I want to make it clear at the outset that the official Opposition do not accept the Government's ti...
Speaker | 478 c1291 (Link to this contribution) Order. We must have temperate conversation and language. The important thing is that I am listening ...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1292 (Link to this contribution) I will if the hon. Gentleman will be very brief.
Rob Marris | 478 c1292 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. and learned Gentleman give way?
Lord Cormack | 478 c1292 (Link to this contribution) May I infer from what my hon. and learned Friend says that there was an attempt to negotiate a bette...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1291 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is quite right; it only deals with the money. Since the 1979-80 Session, 60 Gove...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1292 (Link to this contribution) Like the Minister, I am not a member of that secret society, the usual channels, so I have absolutel...
Rob Marris | 478 c1292 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. and learned Gentleman not accept that there is a certain contradiction between the two...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1292 (Link to this contribution) There we are—nor did the Government. Perhaps unwittingly, the hon. Gentleman has made my point about...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1292 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman misunderstands. It is the Government's Bill. We did not see it until it was in it...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1293-5 (Link to this contribution) There was an interesting exchange at the end of the speech by my hon. and learned Friend the Member ...
David Howarth | 478 c1293 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that important suggestion. On various occasions, especially in Commit...
Rob Marris | 478 c1293 (Link to this contribution) Would the hon. Gentleman be further reassured if the Government were to say that adequate time will ...
David Howarth | 478 c1292-3 (Link to this contribution) I, too, accept the need for speed in this situation. A large number of cases pending, or recent case...
David Heathcoat-Amory | 478 c1295-6 (Link to this contribution) After listening to this brief debate, I rise to support what my right hon. and learned Friend the Me...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1296 (Link to this contribution) There is a further related point. Does my right hon. Friend recall that Lord Mance, one of the Law L...
David Heathcoat-Amory | 478 c1296 (Link to this contribution) If that is true—I defer to my right hon. and learned Friend's opinion—it is very serious indeed, bec...
Mark Fisher | 478 c1296-7 (Link to this contribution) I agree with almost everything that the right hon. Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory) has said. ...
Mark Fisher | 478 c1297-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that. Yes, I think that everybody does accept the need for...
Elfyn Llwyd | 478 c1298 (Link to this contribution) I have listened to what has been said, and I agree that we need to act. We cannot allow the situatio...
Elfyn Llwyd | 478 c1298-9 (Link to this contribution) I fully accept what you say, Mr. Speaker, and I hope to catch your eye at a later stage. In conclusi...
Speaker | 478 c1298 (Link to this contribution) I am interested in what the hon. Gentleman is saying, but he is discussing the merits of the Bill, a...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1299 (Link to this contribution) There is an interesting point to be made about Northern Ireland, because in 1992 Lord Diplock, and t...
Lord Cormack | 478 c1299 (Link to this contribution) I, too, was somewhat reassured by what the Minister said about the sunset clause. I was partly reass...
Sammy Wilson | 478 c1318-9 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not accept that the police have a duty of care to witnesses, so if they beli...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1319 (Link to this contribution) My concern is that that would become a routine, rather than the exception. However, in those very da...
Robert Flello | 478 c1318 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend recognise that there is a general perception of concern among our constituents w...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1318 (Link to this contribution) I fully accept that, and it is a very valid point, but the concern should be expressed by the witnes...
David Howarth | 478 c1321 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is of course absolutely correct to say that, arithmetically, the majority of case...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1321 (Link to this contribution) Does that not reinforce the proposition that the appointment of special or independent counsel shoul...
David Howarth | 478 c1319-21 (Link to this contribution) I fully accept what the hon. Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) has said, and that overall the Bill com...
Rob Marris | 478 c1321 (Link to this contribution) May I caution the hon. Gentleman? I understand and have some sympathy with his argument, but the Hou...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1318 (Link to this contribution) I agree, and one of my amendments provides for independent counsel for that reason. I understand tha...
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1317-8 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice obviously faced a difficult task in producin...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1318 (Link to this contribution) That, of course, rather argues for the existence of special counsel, who could, for example, questio...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 478 c1313 (Link to this contribution) The Law Lords also invited Parliament to set out a statutory framework, which we are seeking to do. ...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1313 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but my hon. Friend is wrong about that. The case will fall to the extent that the common...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 478 c1313-5 (Link to this contribution) I invite my right hon. and learned Friend to make those points in greater detail during the Committe...
Jeremy Corbyn | 478 c1315 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman must be aware that where there is a problem of knife crime among young people and...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 478 c1315-6 (Link to this contribution) I understand the hon. Gentleman's point. I was going on to give the counter view to the point that J...
David Howarth | 478 c1333 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment No. 35, page 2, line 26, leave out subsection (2).
Lord Garnier | 478 c1331-2 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) said at the outset of his remarks, this ha...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1332-3 (Link to this contribution) I shall respond briefly, given that I shall deal in more detail in Committee with some of the points...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 478 c1327-9 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the fact that I am following the hon. and learned Member for Medway (Mr. Marshall-Andrews)...
Elfyn Llwyd | 478 c1329-31 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) a...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1326 (Link to this contribution) That is very generous of my hon. and learned Friend. The court must be directed always to look at a...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 478 c1326-7 (Link to this contribution) Let me start, perhaps uncharacteristically, by congratulating my right hon. Friend the Secretary of ...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1325-6 (Link to this contribution) There is always that danger—it arises under existing law in relation to protective measures. If the ...
Robert Flello | 478 c1325 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the right hon. and learned Gentleman with great interest. There is a slight dilemm...
Jack Straw | 478 c1323 (Link to this contribution) I shall only detain the hon. Gentleman for a moment. Not that many of those cases have arisen in the...
David Howarth | 478 c1323-4 (Link to this contribution) The opposite point of view is that it is precisely cases of that seriousness that should go to the C...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1324-5 (Link to this contribution) I rise slightly unexpectedly, as the hon. and learned Member for Medway (Mr. Marshall-Andrews) was g...
David Howarth | 478 c1322 (Link to this contribution) That is right. However, there is no suggestion in their lordships' speeches that the sole or decisiv...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1322-3 (Link to this contribution) There is another important characteristic, namely that the police will not as a matter of routine pr...
David Howarth | 478 c1322 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I am concerned about how that aspect of the Bill is worded. The Government are quite right to s...
Mark Durkan | 478 c1321 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman referred to the point about the need for verification, but how can there be verif...
Jack Straw | 478 c1307-8 (Link to this contribution) I can reassure my hon. Friend on that. In all the cases that I am aware of, the identity of the witn...
Lynne Jones | 478 c1307 (Link to this contribution) Would it be possible for the anonymity not to be complete? For example, if the witness were to be sc...
Jeremy Corbyn | 478 c1306 (Link to this contribution) Like the Secretary of State, I do not want to see any more knife or gun crime on our streets, and I ...
Jack Straw | 478 c1308 (Link to this contribution) I refer the right hon. and learned Gentleman to the interesting report of the right hon. and learned...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1308 (Link to this contribution) It does not stop Scots MPs voting on Bills such as this.
Jack Straw | 478 c1308 (Link to this contribution) They do things differently, and they always have done. The right hon. and learned Member for North-E...
Rob Marris | 478 c1308 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State briefly explain why most of the Bill does not apply to Scotland, and wha...
Elfyn Llwyd | 478 c1308 (Link to this contribution) A week ago, a leading Queen's counsel opined that far too many of these anonymity orders are being m...
Sammy Wilson | 478 c1299 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the point made by the right hon. and learned Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Mr....
Lord Cormack | 478 c1299-300 (Link to this contribution) I shall not do that, Mr. Speaker, save to say that I accept what the hon. Member for East Antrim say...
Speaker | 478 c1299 (Link to this contribution) Order. Once again, although we are on an allocation of time order, we have gone back to discussing t...
Speaker | 478 c1300 (Link to this contribution) Order. My advice is that the question that the Minister has been asked has nothing to do with the ma...
Rob Marris | 478 c1300 (Link to this contribution) In the Lord Chancellor's oral statement to the House on 26 June, he said that if the Bill before us ...
Jack Straw | 478 c1304-5 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. In my statement to this House on 26 June, I...
Speaker | 478 c1300 (Link to this contribution) I ask the Serjeant at Arms to investigate the delay in the Aye Lobby.
Jack Straw | 478 c1305 (Link to this contribution) I do not have that information offhand, but I shall seek to find out whether it can be provided to t...
Marquess of Lothian | 478 c1312 (Link to this contribution) I have been listening carefully to the arguments that have been advanced. One problem that I have is...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 478 c1312 (Link to this contribution) I shall address the balance that we need to achieve. I shall not dignify that intervention to any gr...
Rob Marris | 478 c1312 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and the hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier), who spoke before, h...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 478 c1311 (Link to this contribution) The House finds itself in an invidious position. In June, the House of Lords held in the case of Dav...
Jack Straw | 478 c1311 (Link to this contribution) I am aware about that, not least because of representations that my hon. and learned Friend has made...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 478 c1310-1 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has mentioned the law reform, witnesses and victims Bill, which will shortly co...
Jack Straw | 478 c1310 (Link to this contribution) I shall do my best to do so. I see that the hon. and learned Gentleman has been given ““Archbold”” t...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 478 c1313 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will know that the Law Lords made it clear in their judgment that there would be ...
Jeremy Corbyn | 478 c1313 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that article 6 of the European convention on human rights provides a ...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 478 c1313 (Link to this contribution) That goes to the heart of the dilemma that we are confronting. The principle set out in the Bill is ...
Frank Dobson | 478 c1309 (Link to this contribution) Virtually everyone recognises the unfortunate necessity for anonymity in a very limited number of ca...
Jack Straw | 478 c1309 (Link to this contribution) In that respect, the hon. Gentleman is entirely right. Happily, those are just explanatory notes.
Andrew Dismore | 478 c1309 (Link to this contribution) The Director of Public Prosecutions gave evidence to my Committee this afternoon, and he said that t...
Jack Straw | 478 c1309 (Link to this contribution) The Crown Prosecution Service has collected a good deal of information so far about the number of ca...
David Howarth | 478 c1308-9 (Link to this contribution) I was very glad to hear what the Lord Chancellor just said. Would he therefore care to comment on pa...
Jack Straw | 478 c1308 (Link to this contribution) I think it inherently improbable that there will be an increase in the number of orders, because we ...
Jack Straw | 478 c1309-10 (Link to this contribution) That is extremely helpful information, fresh from an evidence session, and I am grateful to my hon. ...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1310 (Link to this contribution) Not for the first time, the Lord Chancellor alleges that the courts have an inherent jurisdiction to...
Jack Straw | 478 c1310 (Link to this contribution) It is certainly the case that courts have an inherent jurisdiction to appoint special counsel or adv...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1375 (Link to this contribution) The hon. and learned Gentleman is not letting me finish.
Jack Straw | 478 c1348-9 (Link to this contribution) This has been a measured debate, and I thank hon. Members of all parties for their contributions. I ...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1313 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the real problem with the Bill, and it is a problem that affects us a...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1326 (Link to this contribution) We knew, but we needed to be reminded.
Mark Fisher | 478 c1322 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman talks about evidence. Will he consider the singularity and crucial importance of ...
David Howarth | 478 c1323 (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely correct. This is a way of getting away from the purely paper process that has dev...
Lord Cormack | 478 c1299 (Link to this contribution) Yes, but the circumstances were very different, as my right hon. and learned Friend knows far better...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 478 c1344 (Link to this contribution) Would not the confusion about the precise role of the special counsel, which has been identified in ...
Lord Garnier | 478 c1291 (Link to this contribution) I could not be more grateful, Mr. Speaker. As I said, the Court of Appeal decision was in 2006 and ...
David Howarth | 478 c1321 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I completely agree. The special counsel procedure is a way out of a range of difficulties with ...
Jack Straw | 478 c1306-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is entirely right to draw attention to one of the dangers of taking anonymised eviden...
Viscount Hailsham | 478 c1305 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman know in how many of the live cases the defendants are in custody or on...
Geoffrey Cox | 478 c1374 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether the Minister could answer a question for me. How does the ““reasonable fear”” of in...
Maria Eagle | 478 c1290 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for those comments. The workings of the usual channels have alwa...
Jack Straw | 478 c1297 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend knows very well why we are introducing this emergency legislation. Their lordships di...
Chris Huhne | 478 c1310 (Link to this contribution) On the issue of testing the credibility of witnesses, which is germane to the Human Rights Act 1998,...
Subjects
Disclosure of information Admissibility of evidence Criminal proceedings Appeals Crime Common law Evidence Human rights European Convention on Human Rights House of Lords Intimidation Judgements Protection Sentencing Witnesses Trials Sunset clauses
Legislation
Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill 2007-08
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk