Shedding some light on the background to the bill, committee chairman Luwellyn Landers told BuaNews that Princess Dianna was a famous case in point who died as a result of harassment.

He said the bill provided for those who got stalked, harassed on the internet, and children who were being bullied at school among other things.

It would also curb the prevalence of university students who got harassed by their lecturers in order to pass their courses, he said.

As the committee went through the clauses in the bill, the role of journalists who stalked or persistently telephoned a source for comment while that source was not willing to talk came to light.

Committee member John Jeffreys said that while journalists should be allowed to do their investigative stories, if they “go overboard” through harassment one should be allowed to approach the court to seek a protection order.

State law advisors said that when the court considered what is “reasonable and what not”. In the case of journalists harassing sources, it would have a background of media freedoms.