Draft Law Reform, Victims and Witnesses Bill

This Bill is intended to increase protections in court for “vulnerable and intimidated” witnesses. It will do this by extending special measures to protect witnesses in court, particularly in crimes involving weapons.

It will also halt criminals from profiting from their crimes through publications relating to their crimes.

The Bill seeks to reform of some aspects of the criminallaw on homicide.  The detail of this will depend on the outcome of the government'scurrent review which is considering Law Commission recommendations forimprovements to the partial defences of provocation and diminishedresponsibility, complicity in relation to murder, and infanticide.