New clause 4 - Persons under 18 years of age
Crime (International Co-operation) Bill [Lords]
3:15 pm
Ms Caroline Flint (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (reducing organised and international crime, anti drugs co-ordination and international and European issues), Home Office; Don Valley, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman raises a valid point about how we should recognise the needs of child witnesses in our court procedures. This Government do recognise that. The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 defines child witnesses as people under 17, rather than under 18—although, for automatic reporting restrictions, it sets the upper age limit at 18. That legislation recognised that due regard should be given to the needs of children appearing in legal proceedings under a number of different circumstances. That is why the new clause is unnecessary.
Witnesses under 17 are treated differently from older witnesses in so far as they are automatically deemed under section 16 of the 1999 Act to have the status of vulnerable witnesses. As vulnerable witnesses, they are eligible, at the court's discretion, to receive any of a range of special measures—for example, screens, removal of wigs and gowns, giving evidence in private, via video recording or live link—that are designed to help such witnesses to give their best evidence. Whether any such measures are applied is up to the court in the particular case, but it must have regard to whether any of the measures, alone or combined, would be likely to improve the quality of the witness's evidence and to protect the needs of the child as defined.
There are additional safeguards in cases involving sexual offences, violence—including threats—and cruelty, in which under–17s have the status of child witnesses in need of special protection. Giving evidence by live link and/or video recording is virtually mandatory in such cases. The 1999 Act applies to all criminal proceedings in England and Wales. In Scotland, the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 makes provision for similar safeguards in cases involving under–16s, including the use of screens and closed circuit television.
If an overseas authority requested evidence on oath from a child witness here, the court would be required to take account of the legislation. Similarly, an authority requesting assistance from overseas from a child witness for use in domestic proceedings would
have to take into account the provisions of the legislation. There is no need for provision in the Bill to make special arrangements for the treatment of child witnesses, as that is governed by existing primary legislation.
In relation to the transfer of prisoners under chapter 5, there is no absolute bar on the transfer of prisoners under the age of 18. Under the terms of sections 5 and 6 of the 1990 Act, any person serving a sentence in a prison or other institution to which the Prison Act 1952 or the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989 applies may be transferred. That includes those under 18. In such cases, a parent or guardian may give or refuse consent on behalf of a prisoner if, on account of their age, they cannot make the decision. That is the same as the situation with all prisoners. Consent must be given for transfer.
To sum up, the new clause is unnecessary. We understand the reasons why it was tabled, and it was important to have the debate, but child witnesses are already adequately protected under primary legislation. It is hoped that cases involving child witnesses will be extremely unusual, but protection does exist for such a situation.