Coroners and Justice Bill

I support the observations of the noble Baroness, Lady Dean, particularly in relation to Amendment 137A. Amendment 137B in my name concerns Clause 36(3)(b), which would confer a power to make regulations allowing for a direction which would exclude specified persons from an inquest if the senior coroner were of the opinion that this would be likely to improve the quality of the evidence of a witness under the age of 18. I have two concerns about Clause 36(3)(b). The first is the breadth of the power. It is not restricted by any requirement to ensure that these rules allow for such exclusion only where necessary because there is no other means of avoiding serious harm to the young person; nor is it restricted by any requirement to ensure that the rules must balance the interests of the young person giving evidence against the interests of another person in remaining present—for example, the interests of the person who may be said to have been responsible for the death in question. I ask the Minister why we need such a broad power when, so far as I know, no such power is found in criminal courts when young people give evidence, which they do regularly. My second concern about Clause 36(3)(b) is that, on present drafting, it would allow for rules to authorise the senior coroner to exclude all members of the press. Even if there is a case for a rule-making power which allows the senior coroner to exclude individuals from an inquest, I do not accept that it is appropriate to exclude members of the press simply because the young witness might, understandably, find the experience of giving evidence less traumatic the fewer people there are present. Surely the presence of the press at an inquest helps to maintain high standards and avoid rumours and allegations of any cover-up. When members of the public are excluded from a hearing, it is surely all the more important that the press are allowed to remain present. That has long been the practice and the law in youth courts. The Minister will know that under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, when a child or young person gives evidence in criminal proceedings and their evidence is likely to be impeded by their fear or distress, and either the proceedings relate to a sexual offence or there is a fear of witness intimidation, the court has a power under Section 25 to make a direction excluding specified persons from the court. Section 25 adds that a representative of the press must be allowed to remain. Section 25 also helpfully provides that in such cases, the proceedings are still to be treated as having occurred in public for the purposes of libel law. So if it is necessary to retain Clause 36(3)(b) in some form, can the Minister tell us why there is no protection similar to Section 25 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act, including similar protections for press freedom, in the coroners’ context? These points that I have made about Clause 36(3)(b) are also relevant to the drafting of Clause 36(3)(a) and I ask the Minister to think again about these aspects of Clause 36.