Bill 'could damage public confidence'

Criminal practitioners have warned that several measures in the Coroners and Justice Bill could damage confidence in the justice system and accused the government of pandering to pressure groups.

Ian Kelcey, chairman of the Law Society’s criminal law committee, described the bill as a complete ‘mishmash’ and asked: ‘How many things can we put into one vehicle?’ Among the proposed reforms to the law on murder, he said the most problematic is the removal of sexual infidelity from the provocation defence.

The bill suggests replacing provocation with a series of partial defences where the defendant pleads a loss of self control attributable to a ‘qualifying trigger’.

Kelcey said: ‘It has long been recognised that sexual infidelity does tend to destabilise unbalanced people. While nobody condones murder, we’re dealing with strong human emotions and in these circumstances you can see how some people can flip.’ He said the proposed change is ‘pandering to a small pressure group rather than looking at the needs of defendants’.

The introduction of investigative anonymity orders to protect the identity of witnesses is another cause for concern. The measure is intended to give victims and vulnerable witnesses confidence to come forward, but Kelcey said the provisions need to be tightened to ensure the measures are applied only in the most exceptional cases.

‘We understand there may be cases that merit consideration of witness anonymity, but we’re uneasy about it and don’t want to see this type of order becoming the norm,’ he said.

Kelcey questioned the need for the creation of a new sentencing board, which would supersede the existing Sentencing Guidelines Council and potentially remove a degree of judicial discretion. He said: ‘The current system ain’t broke, so why fix it? It’s meddling for meddling’s sake. Sentencing is already a nightmare and it doesn’t need to be overlaid with a further level of administration.’

Steve Wedd, treasurer of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, criticised a measure to make the use of video link ‘virtual courts’ mandatory in preliminary hearings. ‘Justice is about public confidence, and you only achieve this where justice is not only done, but also seen to be done,’ he said.

The Law Society’s criminal law committee is drafting a briefing note to inform practitioners of the full implications of the proposals.