Legislative scrutiny - Justice and Security Bill (second report), eighth report of session 2012-13, report, together with formal minutes and written evidence (Paperback)

This report scrutinises the extent to which the Government's amendments to the Bill reflect the Committee's recommendations made in their first report (HLP 59/HCP 372 session 2012/13 (ISBN 9780108476242)). To the extent that the Committee is not satisfied that they do, they recommend further amendments to the Bill for consideration at Report stage. They revisit two recommendation made which have not yet been reflected in the Bill: a requirement of judicial balancing within the closed material procedure (CMP) and a 'gisting' obligation. They recommend that the Bill be amended to ensure that a full judicial balancing of interests always takes place within the CMP, weighing the public interest in the fair and open administration of justice against the likely degree of harm to the interests of national security when deciding which material should be heard in closed session and which in open session. The Committee also agrees with the Special Advocates that if there is to be a power to hold a CMP in civil proceedings, there should be an express statutory requirement in all cases to provide the excluded party with a gist of the closed material that is sufficient to enable him to give effective instructions to his Special Advocate. They therefore recommend that the Bill be amended to impose such gisting obligations