§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government will adopt the recommendation by the Home Affairs Committee to amend the Criminal Justice Bill so that where the prosecution wish to interview a defence witness in advance of trial(a) they should be required to notify the defence and offer to interview the witness in the presence of the defence and (b) that interview would be tape-recorded. [128523]
§ Paul GogginsA Government amendment to Part 5 of the Criminal Justice Bill was agreed by the House of Lords on 14 July 2003. This introduced a new clause requiring the Secretary of State to prepare a code of practice giving guidance to police officers in relation to the arranging a conduct of police interviews with defence witnesses. This provides that the code must include guidance on the notification and presence of the accused's solicitor at the interview. It is also the Government's intention that the code should include guidance on making an accurate recording of the interview either by writing or audio-recording where this is appropriate. Further details of the amendment may be found in the House of Lords,Official Report, 14 July 2003, columns 744–45W.
§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Criminal Justice Bill's proposal to allow for greater admission at trial of a defendant's previous convictions. [128649]
§ Paul GogginsThe Criminal Justice Bill reforms the rules governing the admission of bad character evidence in criminal proceedings. The law already acknowledges that this sort of evidence has a proper role to play in appropriate circumstances. However, the rules416W governing its admission have developed in a piecemeal fashion and lack a rational and coherent structure. Our proposals will provide a new and comprehensive statutory scheme that puts the law on a clear and accessible footing.
Evidence will be admissible where it is relevant to a case and provided that there isn't an adverse affect on the fairness of the proceedings. There will be a number of safeguards for defendants, including a power for judges to exclude evidence where its prejudicial effect would outweigh its probative value.
The Bill also offers new protection to witnesses to ensure that questions relating to their previous conduct has a clear bearing on the issues in the trial.
§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effects the proposal in the Criminal Justice Bill to allow for greater admission at trial of a defendant's previous convictions will have on criminal trials. [128650]
§ Paul GogginsThe Criminal Justice Bill reforms the rules governing the admission of bad character evidence in criminal proceedings. Our proposals will provide a new and comprehensive statutory scheme that puts the law on a clear and accessible footing.
Evidence will be admissible where it is relevant to a case and provided that there is not an adverse affect on the fairness of the proceedings. There will be a number of safeguards for defendants, including a power for judges to exclude evidence where its prejudicial effect would outweigh its probative value.
The Bill will encourage the admission of evidence of bad character in appropriate circumstances, ensuring that jurors and magistrates have available to them a full picture of the case. Rationalising and clarifying the rules will reduce the scope for legal arguments and make it more predictable for defendants when their record may be given in evidence.
The new statutory scheme deals with witnesses as well as defendants, and offers new protection to ensure that questions about witnesses' previous conduct have a clear bearing on the issues in the trial. This will ensure a better balance between the rights of defendants and interests of witnesses.