Ms Deirdre Malone:

On the Deputy's final point, the Bill includes a welcome requirement that judges give written reasons for their decisions in bail applications. We wholeheartedly welcome that provision. As I recall - I do not have a copy of the heads in front of me - this will be done at the request of the prosecution or defence. It should be done as a matter of course. I cannot find any reason for not introducing a simple requirement that judges give written reasons for bail decisions in every case. Simply having a requirement to give a reason for a decision is an improving factor for everyone, regardless of the type of decision. It can only be of assistance to require reasons to be committed to paper in a clear and open manner. It should not be done solely at the request of the defence or prosecution. Victims, prosecutors, lawyers and everybody else will have an interest in understanding the reasons a decision was made in any given case.

The other point I would make regarding decision making in courts is that questions about consistency will always arise and the answer is to have transparency. Members of the public always welcome knowledge. Unfortunately, however, our perception of how the criminal justice system works is mainly derived from the media, and news values are not the same as justice values.