Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm shocked that you aren't aware of the possibility. The bill is clear in this regard. It does not, in fact, refer to prosecution, which is the later stage in the process initiated by the director of public prosecutions, but, rather, to the laying of charges, the first step in the process once a crime has been committed. To my mind, that is too broad, so I am proposing that the entire paragraph be removed to prevent this type of situation from happening.
Would it be possible to indicate that the leave is available only to victims? I realize we don't want to put the employer in a situation where they would have to judge a domestic dispute and state that such and such a person was the victim. That is not necessarily the role of the employer.
Is there a way to fix the problem? Do you at least acknowledge that there is a problem in cases where both parties are charged, in other words, when a victim's employer might refuse to grant the leave because the victim had also been charged?