Mary Henry (Independent)

My amendment No. 36 is being discussed with this amendment and what the Minister has proposed goes a long way towards addressing it. I would have liked him to have gone further because it is hard enough for people who are not fit to plead to have their entire psychiatric history in the public press when perhaps they are at a stage of treatment when they know what is going on. It is also hard on families. What the Minister has done is a help. Having medical details of this nature disclosed in the press is always rather worrying. What the Minister has proposed will at least address the situation coming up to the trial. I would prefer if entire medical reports were not published in the press without the permission of the court. I would like the court to have the opportunity to give that permission if it believed it was relevant to the case. I would not like to think that a person's history over many decades would be disclosed in the press for the vicarious delight of the public.