Witness bill in Commons today

The bill will be rushed through the Commons today

Tuesday, 08, Jul 2008 10:54

The government will rush emergency legislation through the Commons today as it seeks to override a law lords ruling on witness anonymity in criminal proceedings.

Last month an Old Bailey trial collapsed following the ruling that defendants are entitled to know who is testifying against them.

The decision put the government's policy of allowing witness anonymity in peril but the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has responded with a proposed law reasserting the acceptability of anonymous witnesses in most cases.

Introduced to parliament last week, the criminal evidence (witness anonymity) bill will pass all its remaining stages in the Commons later today. It must then pass through the Lords and receive royal assent before becoming UK law.

The MoJ says a desire to prevent any delay affecting ongoing trials is behind the emergency legislation. The bill will ensure previous convictions involving the use of anonymous evidence are not quashed and set out the procedure to follow in ongoing and future trials.

"Allowing witnesses to give evidence anonymously has played a vital role in bringing the most violent criminals to justice and it must continue to do so," justice secretary Jack Straw said at the bill's first reading.

"It has also been essential to act so swiftly so as not to leave a gap in the public and victims' protection against serious crime. This bill has been carefully drafted to take full account of the Lords' judgment."

An MoJ spokesperson said the bill's purpose "is to put on a statutory footing a power for the courts to grant witnesses anonymity orders in criminal proceedings where this is consistent with the right of a defendant to a fair trial".