Ms Caroline Counihan:

The only other thing I would add, Deputy, is that there is now European jurisprudence. As we all know, Article 6 of the European Convention on Human rights talks about the right of the accused to a fair trial, fair procedures and all the rest which is, essentially, the right to due process. That is very like our own right under Article 38 of the Constitution. Nevertheless the European Court of Human Rights or the European Court - I forget which - said that provided the interests of the accused are properly represented, there are situations where it is in the interests of justice that personal cross-examination should not be allowed. It is time to examine the matter again.