Meeting of the Parliament 21 June 2023
The whole purpose of section 1 of the bill is to ensure that the court has the best possible information available to it. Notwithstanding that prosecutors are busy—as are judges, criminal justice social workers and victim support organisations—we are well within our rights to be crystal clear on the role of the prosecutor in providing vital victim information where it exists.
I put another scenario to Mr Greene. Although I am sure that it is not his intention, my worry is that amendment 19 might have unintended consequences and carry an increased risk of harm if a complainer were to make representations at court in person. It might increase the risk to their safety or that of their being coerced into making representations to help to secure an accused person’s release on bail.
Therefore although I accept that amendment 19 is well intentioned, it is not one that the Government can support.
Amendment 20 from Jamie Greene would place a mandatory requirement on the prosecutor to always include information on the safety of the complainer or other persons in their bail submission. Where such information is relevant to the question of bail, the prosecutor will of course provide such information. However, to require it in every case—even when, for example, there is no complainer or where there is no question of complainer safety being an issue, such as may be the case in a shoplifting case—is a step too far.
In addition, amendment 20 would require the prosecutor to include information on complainer safety obtained from a victim advocacy or a victim support group. Again, I understand the intent, but if there is no complainer, or if the complainer has no wish to engage with such a group, the prosecutor would still require to include such information, even where clearly it is not relevant or where it is not available from the victim group.
It is for the independent prosecutor, who acts in the public interest, to ensure that relevant information is presented to the court in relation to complainer safety, and amendment 15 strengthens the law appropriately in that regard.
There are also some technical issues with amendments 19 and 20. For example, there is no definition of a “victim support or advocacy group,” which is referred to in amendment 20. Given that the amendment imposes a new duty on the Crown in connection with court decisions on bail, it is important that there is legal certainty.
On that basis, I ask members to oppose amendments 19 and 20.