18.—(1) A coroner may direct that a witness may give evidence at an inquest hearing from behind a screen.
(2) A direction may not be given under paragraph (1) unless the coroner determines that giving evidence in the way proposed would be likely to improve the quality of the evidence given by the witness or allow the inquest to proceed more expediently.
(3) In making that determination, the coroner must consider all the circumstances of the case, including in particular—
(a)any views expressed by the witness or an interested person;
(b)whether it would be in the interests of justice or national security to allow evidence to be given from behind a screen; and
(c)whether giving evidence from behind a screen would impede the effectiveness of the questioning of the witness by an interested person or a representative of the interested person.
(4) A direction may be given under paragraph (1)—
(a)on the application by the witness, or in the case of a child witness the parent or legal guardian of that witness;
(b)on an application of an interested person; or
(c)on the coroner’s own initiative.