Clause 31 - Further provisions about defence disclosure
Criminal Justice Bill
5:45 pm
Mr Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield, Conservative)
Amendment No. 193 is a probing amendment, similar to those debated earlier. It would be extraordinary if, during the course of determining whether the jury should have a copy of the defence statement, all the parties were not heard. I expect them all to be heard, and I hope that the Minister will assure us that they will.
On the second issue, the matter goes a little further. I said that there might be circumstances in which it could be useful for a jury to see a defence statement. However, we must be careful that we do not end up having trial by defence statements in place of trial on the evidence that is presented to the court. Will the Minister outline the circumstances in which he would expect a statement to be placed before the jury, so that we can understand why the Government thought that this clause was necessary? Presumably, ideas or examples have been put to the Government of times when to show a jury a defence statement would be of practical benefit, instead of causing injustice.