Criminal Justice (Committal Reform) Bill: Consideration Stage

Part of Executive Committee Business – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 4:45 pm on 23 November 2021.

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Photo of Naomi Long Naomi Long Alliance 4:45, 23 November 2021

I do not disagree with what the Member said about the need for the witness statements to be tested. That right is upheld during trial. The question is whether we need a preliminary process of inquiry that allows people to be cross-examined more than once. There is no purpose to that. In fact, the case would move much further and faster for the defendant were it to be remitted straight to the Crown Court, where that testing of the evidence could then take place in a single process. This is not to deny rights. The Member has asserted a number of times that we are ignoring the principle of being innocent until proven guilty. I ask him again to point to the clause in the Bill that does so.