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Dozens of murder cases at risk after collapse of hitman trial

by Dave Keating | June 25, 2008 at 02:51 am

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A Law Lords ruling last week that concluded that accused criminals in England and Wales have the right to see those who are accusing them of crimes has thrown the entire English criminal justice system in the into a panic. From now on, witnesses will no longer be able to testify in criminal trials anonymously. Yesterday, a high-profile and expensive case had to be halted because of the new rules.

The immediate effect of this ruling will be that at least 50 cases currently working through the justice system must be halted. But it also means that from now on police officers in England and Wales won't be able to offer witnesses anonymity if they testify. Parliament is understood to be quickly working on emergency legislation to change the law so witnesses will once again be able to testify anonymously.

The ruling does not affect Scotland, which has a seperate legal system.

Ministers are determined to rush through emergency laws to halt the collapse of criminal cases throughout England and Wales after senior judges ruled that granting witnesses anonymity could make trials unfair.

Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, was in talks with officials last night after the halting of a trial at the Old Bailey and with an estimated 40 other murder cases at risk.

One legal source estimates that 550-600 applications have been or are being made by witnesses for anonymity in pending criminal trials. Lawyers are also set to prepare appeals in a number of cases where evidence depended on anonymous witnesses.

Last week five law lords quashed a double conviction in the case of Iain Davis, jailed for murdering two men at a New Year’s Eve party in Hackney. They said that the anonymity granted to the witnesses made the case unfair and breached the fundamental principle that an accused person had the right to know his accuser.

Reaction to the ruling has been critical from most media. This editorial from the Mirror, for instance, says that the rights of witnesses must be respected along with the rights of those accused.

The accused in trials have rights but vulnerable witnesses need protection.

Shockwaves from a landmark Law Lords ruling against anonymous evidence halted a £6million Old Bailey murder trial and threaten to trigger chaos in the legal system.

Shielding the identity of publicly-spirited citizens brave enough to take the stand, despite fearing for their lives, is vital in the few cases involving extreme violence.

So justice will not be served if the guilty walk free because intimidation succeeded in gagging scared witnesses.