New clause 2 - Amendments to the Youth Justice and
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill [Lords]
3:00 pm
Ms Vera Baird (Redcar, Labour)
Since the 1998 publication of ''Speaking Up for Justice''—the Home Office sex offences review report—it has always been presumed to be likely that victims of domestic violence will automatically be entitled to special measures, in the same way that victims of offences of sexual violence have an automatic right to such measures unless they ask that they not to be given. That is largely because there is almost invariably a coincidence between physical domestic violence and sexual violence. Whether or not a prosecution is being brought for a sex offence, it is well known that there is a widespread connection between the two things. Therefore, if one category of person is deemed to be an vulnerable witness who merits such provisions, the other ought to be deemed to be the same.
The fact that that presumption is not in place—the amendment would introduce it—does not mean that women who come to court for domestic violence cases cannot apply through the Crown Prosecution Service for special measures. The way that the hon. Lady has set out is much less satisfactory, because it leaves the matter until, at the earliest, the pre-trial review, which is a business hearing to organise how the trial will continue. It might even be dealt with on the day of the trial. The woman concerned will not know from the outset whether she has to face the perpetrator of her misery in court while giving probably very delicate evidence. Women's groups, such as Refuge and Women's Aid, and so on, who have briefed all Committee members, say that that is likely to be part of a forest of things that tend to deter women not only from making complaints, but from going through with them. It is not just that they may have to give evidence: they may not know whether they have to do so without the protections.
The difficulty with the second tier of protection, under which a woman would apply later for the
discretion to be exercised in her favour, is that being able satisfactorily to accomplish that depends on having appropriate officers and CPS staff present, who will be sensitive to the requests of the woman, or who will, even without her asking, reach out and invite her to say whether she wants such measures. That will not necessarily happen. It is odd that such vulnerable witnesses should be left, as it were, at the mercy of the expertise of an individual officer in an individual case, which may or may not be strong.
However, there is something to be gained from giving that category of women the same support that the category of sex offence complainants already has. The provision will do that. I would be interested to hear if there are any powerful reasons against it. To speculate before the Minister responds, one of them might yet again be the difficulty to categorise what is an offence of domestic violence. The new clause is designed to circumvent the absence of a definition of domestic violence by merely referring to an offence that involves
''any form of molestation, including violence''.
That is wide enough for anybody who comes into this category to be adequately covered. I invite the Government to take a serious look at the new clause.