New Clause 14 — Inquests in camera

Part of Bill Presented – in the House of Commons at 6:00 pm on 23 March 2009.

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Photo of David Howarth David Howarth Shadow Secretary of State for Justice 6:00, 23 March 2009

The central point is that national security is taken as a separate ground; it is the first ground. Separate from that, there is the ground of relations with a foreign power. Separate from that are matters to do with protecting witnesses, and separate from that is the issue of the prevention and detection of crime. Those are separate grounds. As I said right at the start of my remarks, no one questions the need for certain proceedings at certain times to be held behind closed doors for national security reasons, but that is different from what is covered in the second ground.