Vulnerable Witnesses Act - section 9: report
This report meets obligations on Scottish Ministers by the Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2019 to publish a report evaluating the effectiveness of the Act at supporting witnesses to participate in the criminal justice system and to set out next steps for implementation.
Annex 5 – Consultation questions issued to consultees
Q.1 The aim of the Act is to support child and vulnerable witnesses to participate in the criminal justice system by reducing the risk of re-traumatisation associated with giving evidence and supporting them to provide their best evidence. Please share your reflections on how the Act is working in practice for child witnesses giving evidence in the High Court and whether it is achieving its aim in respect of those witnesses?
Q.2 The Act must be as effective as possible at supporting child and vulnerable witnesses to participate in the criminal justice system. What improvements could be made to ensure the Act delivers fully against this objective such as in relation to facilities, use of Ground Rules Hearings or any other aspect of how it is being implemented?
Q.3 We want to understand what, if any, impact introducing a presumption in favour of pre-recorded evidence has had on the experience of children giving evidence in the High Court. Please share any reflections that you have on how the experience of children giving evidence in the High Court to whom the presumption applies has changed since the Act was introduced.
Q.4 We want to understand whether implementing the Act has had implications for the courts and wider criminal justice system. In your view, what impact, if any, has the introduction of the presumption had on the courts and criminal justice system at large?
If you feel the Act has had a negative impact, please set out any actions that you think would help to address this.
Q.5 In your view does the phased approach set out in the Act Implementation Plan continue to be an appropriate way of further rolling out the presumption to other cohorts of child and vulnerable witnesses?
Yes ☐
No ☐
Don’t know ☐
If not, why not? Please provide information to support your views.
Q.6 Do you consider there to be challenges associated with further roll out of the presumption?
Yes ☐
No ☐
Don’t know ☐
If yes, what are these challenges and how do you think they can be mitigated?
Q.7 Do you have any other observations or comments about the Act or how it is being applied that you would like to share?
Contact
Email: prerecordedevidence@gov.scot
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