Ms Aoife O'Leary:

Section 19A makes provision for a hearing for the judge to determine whether a particular note would be disclosed to the defence. Section 19A sets out that the judge has to have regard to the effect on the complainant and to the requirement to provide a fair trail to the accused person. Section 19A provides that, where a complainant consents to the disclosure of the note, there is no need for the court to have a hearing about the disclosure.

The Bill proposes to remove the facility for the complainant to consent to the disclosure. We said in our submission that an alternative may be to strengthen provisions that were already there, such as providing independent legal advice to a complainant from independent legal advisers who could advise the complainant in relation to the potential disclosure, and in relation to the particular disclosure. The complainant could then make a decision, informed by that legal advice, as to whether she or he wishes to have the hearing before the judge, where the judge will review the record and make the decision as to whether it is disclosed, or is satisfied to consent to the disclosure of the particular record.