Coroners and Justice Bill
5:27 pm
Tim Boswell (Daventry, Conservative)
I am grateful for these exchanges. Given my lay status, could you walk me through the situation that might apply? We know that there is sensitive information, and that there may be individuals whose identity is sensitive and may be more readily protectable, but, of course, the evidence is important. If it is under a public interest immunity certificate, depending on the nature of that certificate, it will not be disclosed to the jury. If that is the case, how can the jury come to a verdict if they have not heard all the evidence? I take it—I am trying to complete my own thought process—that in a criminal case, a judge will have heard that information and will incorporate it into his or her summing up to the jury. In a coroner’s inquiry, there is obviously a slightly different procedure. That would concern me not least because we still have—and the Bill will provide for—vested rights for some non-judicially qualified coroners to continue. Perhaps that would not apply in this special case because it requires the appointment of a High Court judge. Is there a worry that you would not be able to get the information out of protection to whoever was making the decision with regard to the inquest? First, can you confirm that I have more or less understood what is happening, and, secondly, give me your assurance that it could work?