New clause 2 - Amendments to the Youth Justice and
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill [Lords]
2:45 pm
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Shadow Minister, Home, Constitutional & Legal Affairs; Chesham and Amersham, Conservative)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
The new clause is similar to the one tabled in the other place by Viscount Bridgeman. It is an attempt to get on record the Minister's views on the use of new technology.
There are new initiatives under way on the better treatment of witnesses, which we hope will bring great benefits. I refer in particular to the ''no witness, no justice'' initiative, which will help to make sure that a witness's needs are taken into account early in criminal court proceedings. I know that the Minister is familiar with that initiative. The new clause is concerned with, among other things, victims of domestic violence. We want to develop procedures that will ensure that victims have more certainty about the process of going to court.
In the experience of Victim Support, most victims are terrified at the thought of seeing their abuser, as we can well imagine; they are even quite frightened by the thought of seeing relatives of the abuser, because of the effect that domestic abuse has had on them. It is possible for the court to direct that a victim can give evidence from behind a screen or from a television-link room. Those are special measures, but they are not always requested or, indeed, provided. The amendment aims to give victims some certainty by making it a rebuttable presumption that special measures such as screens or a TV link will be used when the victim gives evidence in court. That would mean that right at the start of the process, when the victim reports the abuse and the possibility of
prosecution is being considered, a support worker, advocate, the police, or whoever has contact with the victim is able to explain to her the protection that the court can grant if she wishes to use those measures.
In the other place, there was some discussion about the fact that every victim has individual views, but the amendment will give victims the option to change their mind. Some people will decide on the day of the court appearance that they have reached the point where they want the defendant to see them giving evidence. The amendment does not prevent them from giving evidence in the usual fashion; instead, it offers protection to everybody. Many victims will receive the information about special measures and be relieved that the court process will not be so much of an ordeal. Any fear or worry that they have about having to face the defendant in court will be eliminated at that point—they will not have to wait, for example, until the early stages of the prosecution process, or even until the day of the trial.
To summarise what one Victim Support witness service staff member said, victims can reap the benefit of forward planning from day one. I hope that the Minister will consider accepting this protection.