Proposed legislative amendments to allow "protected witnesses" to testify in secret will cause problems for the criminal justice system, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) warned today.

The amendments sought will prevent an accused person from seeing or cross-examining the witness, LFL executive director Eric Paulsen said in a press statement.

"Such secrecy is repugnant to the very basic foundation of our criminal justice system that demands a fair trial - that justice must be done openly and transparently.

"The accused must be afforded an opportunity to challenge the evidence presented and the guilt against the accused must be proven beyond reasonable doubt," Paulsen ( photo ) said.

He was referring to the tabling in Parliament of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) Amendment Bill 2015, which seeks to amend Sections 265A, 265B and 265C of the CPC.

These amendments were first proposed in December 2013, but were withdrawn following public outcry.

"But they are now being reintroduced without any clear explanation as to what had transpired since then to merit such a reintroduction," Paulsen said.

Don't touch judicial discretion

The bill also seeks to amend Sections 282 and 294, removing the discretion of the court to impose concurrent sentences, which Paulsen argued would be unfair as judicial discretion is an essential part of the judiciary.

"Judges are not automatons designed to sentence mechanically. They must be allowed to decide on the appropriate sentences for each individual case, depending on their peculiar facts and circumstances.

"To deprive the judiciary of such discretion and to force them to impose harsh or custodial sentences is an unnecessary fetter on their discretion and interferes with their independence and justice," he said.

Paulsen said a bipartisan Parliamentary Select Committee should be established to study the proposed amendments before the bill is tabled.

"Debates in parliament (alone) are usually inadequate and a foregone conclusion, a rubber stamp in favour of the government," he said.