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Vulnerable and child witnesses
01/11/2007
More children and vulnerable adults will be entitled to special measures such as screens, supporters, taking evidence by a commissioner and live television links when they appear as a witness in a court case, as from today.
Thanks to continued implementation of the Vulnerable Witnesses Act, civil proceedings in the Court of Session and Sheriff Court civil proceedings, including Fatal Accident Inquiries, will also have the option of the special measures which are already in place for criminal cases.
This will mean that child witnesses in cases such custody battles between two parents, can now benefit from the measures.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said:
"For some children, and vulnerable adults, our courts can be intimidating places. The thought of giving evidence in front of a court full of people may be downright scary.
"That's why we are continuing to implement this important piece of legislation to ensure that those involved in civil proceedings, such as a Fatal Accident Inquiry or Sheriff court, will also benefit from special measures to support them.
"These measures have been designed to give children and vulnerable adults the help they need to be an effective witness.
"Already, across Scotland, child witnesses in all criminal cases and children's hearings court proceedings, as well as adult vulnerable witnesses in solemn criminal cases and children's hearings court proceedings, are benefiting from special measures designed to help their journey through the justice system.
"I believe these measures - and this extension of them - can help make being a witness easier and less traumatic for many children and vulnerable people."
Norman Dunning, Chief Executive of ENABLE Scotland, the country's leading charity for people with learning disabilities, said:
"We know from our work with children and adults with learning disabilities that they find going to court stressful. We have helped to produce accessible information materials for vulnerable witnesses to explain the special measures because we think it is important that both children and adults with learning disabilities understand what is involved and can use the extra support to give evidence.
"These measures can make a big difference and it's great that the provisions have now been extended to civil proceedings."
The Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act received Royal Assent on April 14, 2004.
The Act aims to help children under the age of 16 give evidence by giving them an automatic entitlement to use certain special measures and by abolishing the competence test, which previously might have prevented some children from giving evidence because they could not pass an initial test to ascertain whether they understand the difference between truth and lies.
In April 2008, the arrangements will be further rolled out to ensure that adult vulnerable witnesses in Sheriff Court summary cases can benefit from special measures.
This will mean that by April 2008, anyone called upon to give evidence in any court in Scotland with the exception of district courts (to be known as Justice of the Peace courts) will be able to call on a range of measures to help reduce the stress and anxiety associated with being a witness.