Member

Finally, Amendment 26 seeks to define “reckless” for the offence of breaching the duty of candour and assistance. I am smiling because I was looking forward to the tutorial—I expect that I shall have to have it in private. The definition of “reckless” in the context of criminal offences is defined by case law, which is long established. I slightly demur from the characterisation of judicial activism set out by the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, and I suspect that I have some allies in that regard. Our legal advice is that it is not necessary to define “reckless” here. To do so would be very different from the approach usually taken in legislation and might give rise to some confusion. However, I am getting rather intrigued, and I would be very happy to discuss it further.