New clause 2 - Amendments to the Youth Justice and
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill [Lords]
3:00 pm
Mr David Heath (Shadow Minister (Home Affairs), Home Affairs; Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
I do not need to add a great deal to what has been said by the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan) and the hon. and learned Member for Redcar (Vera Baird).
My hon. Friend the Member for Romsey (Sandra Gidley) and I have added our names to the new clause. We anticipate that the Government's response will be that it is unnecessary because what it does is already provided on the great bulk of occasions. I simply echo the point made by the hon. and learned Member for Redcar: there is a world of difference between telling someone who might be fearful, confused and dubious about bringing matters before a court, ''You will probably have this protection,'' and saying to them, ''You will have that protection right from day one.'' We are trying to give the greatest possible encouragement to witnesses and victims to make their complaint and to be prepared to take it through the court process. There are enough obstacles in the way. The new clause would simply remove a perceived obstacle—even if it often is not one in practical terms—with no detriment to the process.
The witness or victim will not have a lawyer appearing on their behalf to make the application; that will be done by the prosecution. However, the prosecution acts on behalf of the Crown, not the victim. That is an important distinction. One hopes that the prosecution team will always bear in mind the best interests of the victim as witness, that they will ensure that they are aware of the needs and wishes of that individual, and that they will make the application to the court. However, that will not necessarily be the case. This amendment is sensible in that it provides a failsafe mechanism. It does not prevent somebody from confronting their alleged assailant in court, if that is what they wish to do,
but it provides them with an automatic failsafe position, which gives them the protection they may well want in every circumstance. I hope that the Minister will give this suggestion serious consideration.