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5 SERVICE TO VICTIMS AND WITNESSES

There have been many changes in policy in recent years relating to the provision of service to victims and witnesses. For many years courts have been able to permit children and vulnerable witnesses to give evidence using special measures such as a screen to shield the child from the accused, CCTV live link from a room outside the courtroom but in the court building and/or to be accompanied by a support person.

The Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004 came into force on 1 April 2005. This consolidated and further developed the law surrounding the giving of evidence by vulnerable people. The Act has been commenced in stages from April 2005.

• In April 2005 special measures for children were introduced in solemn cases except for giving evidence on commission ¹⁴ as were provisions relating to identification procedures, use of expert witnesses and the abolition of the competency test
• November 2005 saw the partial commencement of provision for giving evidence on commission for child witnesses in certain solemn cases
• April 2006 the provisions for adult vulnerable witnesses in solemn cases commenced
• April 2007 the provision for special measures for children in summary cases commenced
• November 2007 saw the commencement of special measures for child and vulnerable witnesses in civil cases including Fatal Accident Inquiries

and finally

• April 2008 should see the commencement of special measures for vulnerable adult witnesses in summary cases

In 2004 on the instruction of the then Solicitor General, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service commenced a review of the handling of investigation and prosecution of rape and other serious sexual offences. This review, 'The Sexual Offences Review' made 50 recommendations including the development of training and guidance for prosecutors, revision to policy and practice, accelerated precognition of such cases, strengthening communications with victims and earlier communication with the police.

The implementation of the provisions of the Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004 and the recommendations of the Sexual Offices Review along with summary justice reform can be described as challenges facing the Area.

In the Aberdeen office child witness cases dealt with at initial case processing phase are passed to a nominated Depute to deal with thus ensuring that notices, letters, leaflets etc relating to this are dealt with timeously. By the time such cases proceed to summary court there has been good liaison between the staff and VIA, including monthly meetings to ensure that all appropriate special measures are applied for. This is also true for solemn cases. We are advised that all steps are taken to ensure compliance with Crown Office citation policy in respect of child witnesses. The practices relating to child witnesses in the Aberdeen office are currently under review with a view to identifying whether it would be feasible for one Depute to deal with all child cases or whether it should be done on an allocation system.

In Peterhead and Banff vulnerable witnesses are contacted by letter and appropriate leaflets are sent to child witnesses.

In Elgin vulnerable witness cases are given a coloured folder to identify them. Any special measures granted are notified to VIA by a dedicated member of staff. An additional Depute post has been allocated to the Elgin office to help with the increase in child witness cases there.

Local agreements have been put in place to ensure that information is shared between colleagues both in Crown Office and partner Agencies such as the Court and Witness Service.

Operation of Victim Information and Advice ( VIA):

A dedicated Victim Information and Advice ( VIA) service was set up and rolled out by December 2004 in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service as a result of concerns relating to the lack of information available to victims and witnesses. The principle aims of VIA are:

• To provide information to victims, bereaved next of kin and some witnesses about the criminal justice process in general
• To keep victims and bereaved next of kin informed about the progress of the case that affects them in particular
• To advise on and facilitate referral to other agencies for specialist support and counselling as required

Certain cases should be referred to VIA in order that they can make appropriate arrangements for the victim/witness. Cases, which must be referred, include certain serious (solemn) cases, which have a victim, deaths cases reported for consideration of criminal proceedings or Fatal Accident Inquiry or where there are likely to be significant further inquiries, domestic abuse cases, racially aggravated cases, cases involving children, sexual offences and cases with vulnerable witnesses.

VIA in Grampian are based in Aberdeen but cover the whole of the Area. There are three part-time and one full time VIA officers. Each is given responsibility for a different office in the Area although they all work as a team to meet business needs. The VIA office is next to initial case processing office in Aberdeen and they are in close dialogue with one another.

VIA have a system in place to check PROMIS, the departmental case tracking system, to ensure that all cases that should be referred to them for action have been. If relevant cases have not been referred then they will chase them up with the office concerned. Contact is usually made with victims and witnesses by phone or letter. If no contact can be made they will liaise with the police find the person(s) concerned and pass information on. VIA make efforts to obtain the view of quality of service from vulnerable witnesses in cases referred to them and pass such to Precognition Officers or Deputes allocated to the case.

There is a protocol between VIA and the Witness Service which covers referrals from VIA to the Witness Service. This deals with referrals, pre-court visits for witnesses and the exchange of information.

VIA informed that the protocol works well in practice. The Witness Service agreed with this and advised that the exchange of information is good. The referral form used is described by VIA as adequate in that it allows for all appropriate information to be inserted. The Witness Service advised that it is of benefit to them if as much information as possible is on the form, such as background information on the case.

The Witness Service also informed that relations are good with court Deputes and that they always try to work well together in the interests of the victims and witnesses. If the Witness Service is unable to speak personally with court Deputes then information is written on a 'blue slip' and passed on in court.

There is good liaison between Fiscal staff, VIA and Witness Service in that they are always available to discuss issues at any time and they attend regular meetings to inform each other about cases. They also attend quarterly meetings where new initiatives, good practice can be shared.

We have been informed by the Witness Service that there has been a notable difference in work as a result of the roll out of the Vulnerable Witness Act in summary cases (ie introduction of special measures in Summary Courts).

One issue causing concern to Fiscal staff, VIA and Witness Service is the lack of facilities to offer all special measures. At present there are two remote sites for Aberdeen, one at Peterhead and Elgin but none in Banff. It was reported that a case calling in Elgin required CCTV (in another room in the court building rather than a complete remote site) but there was no facility available to allow this given that there is only one court room and the case had to be transferred to another court. The provision of such facilities is the responsibility of Scottish Courts Service and not COPFS. Se

Another issue relates to the continuation of intermediate diets to just a few days before the trial diet. We were informed by the Aberdeen Witness Service that this means that there is very little time for the Witness Service to arrange for court familiarisation visits.

Staff in the Grampian Area contribute to the foundation training for new Witness Service staff and volunteers.

Independent feedback was sought and received from witnesses at court in the form of a questionnaire and we are indebted to the Witness Service for the help given to us in obtaining this information. In total 77 completed questionnaires were received and covered courts at Aberdeen, Elgin and Peterhead.

Drawing conclusions from our review of the completed questionnaires:

• All were given notice by letter or police service with 3 also stating they received a telephone call
• Of the 71 people who answered this question most respondents were given at least a months notice to attend court. 8 were given two weeks notice or less with 1 person given one day and another given two days
• 11 said they did not receive information on being a witness and 15 said they did not receive information on the location of court
• 4 asked to be excused from attending court with 1 being informed that they had to attend which caused this person to miss classes at University, 1 said the excusal was dealt with reasonably and 2 did not specify
• Most said they were provided with information at court. Only 3 said they did not receive information but did not indicate that this was a problem.
• All but 2 said they were treated with courtesy at court. The 2 who said not did not provide any further details
• All who required pre-trial visits received them
• All those that said they had special needs had these met
• 4 indicated that the Witness Service were very helpful

A more full analysis of the responses can be found at Appendix 4.

Feedback from Women's Aid, Aberdeen:

Women's Aid report that relations are very good between the Fiscal and themselves although there have not been many cases recently. There are no issues in getting information from the Fiscal's Office including VIA and they would not hesitate in picking up the phone to seek advice even relating to cases where no proceedings have been taken. There has been joint training in the past but nothing recently and Women's Aid have no experience of special measures.

Women now know that there is help on the domestic abuse front. There is a special unit set up in the police service to deal with this and Women's Aid report that it has made such a difference to the women involved.

Feedback from Rape and Abuse Support, Aberdeen:

Relations have so far only been with the Aberdeen office although there are measures in place to set up a satellite Rape Crisis Service in Peterhead and Fraserburgh.

Contact with staff at the Aberdeen office is described as positive although this does not happen very often. Rape Abuse and Support would like to obtain more information about the Fiscal Service and would like to inform staff in the Fiscal Service about their responsibilities. Unlike with the police there is no joint training with the Fiscal Service and this is something that would be gratefully appreciated as it would allow a better flow of information. This is in contrast with other Areas of the Fiscal Service where Rape Crisis are included in joint training events.

It was noted that there are criticisms of other bodies of the criminal justice system in that victims are not always treated with empathy and examination facilities are described as 'disgraceful'. Victim Support indicated that they will not push victims into taking legal action if they don't want to but will empower them to be survivors rather than victims.

It was also noted that they are aware that the Fiscal's Office is always looking for staff.

Feedback from Victim Support, Aberdeen City:

Victim Support have quarterly meetings with Victim Information and Advice and the Witness Service to get updates on cases they are involved with.

We were advised that relations with Victim Information and Advice are described as very good and relations with the Fiscal are described as good. Fiscals dealing with cases do make themselves available to speak with Victim Support on issues of concern. Victim Support describe Fiscals at court as 'brilliant' in that they will provide explanations to witnesses and are very supportive of families.

Victim Support informed that a member of staff from the Aberdeen Fiscal's Office contributes to their training for volunteers.

They indicate that Fiscal staff are more aware of victims needs as a result of the Vulnerable Witness Act and this in turn makes the process easier for the victims. The information leaflets issued by Victim Information and Advice are described as friendly and not intimidating.

There is a protocol on information sharing between Victim Support and other agencies and this includes the Fiscal.

Victim Support, through the Witness Service attending court liaison meetings, can pass on issues of concern and there have been improvements as a result.

Feedback from Victims and Witnesses Unit:

A vulnerable witness pilot project was established in Aberdeen and Ayrshire in October 2005. This is run by the Criminal Justice Directorate of the Scottish Government. The aim is to provide a more co-ordinated approach to support victims and witnesses. The provision of service starts from the incident occurring through the investigation and court process to post trial support.

In Grampian the focus has been on the City and a small part of the county dealing with cases in Aberdeen Sheriff and High Courts. A local steering group has been set up and there are representatives from the Fiscal's Office and Victim Information and Advice on this. We were advised that there used to be good support in the steering group from a member of staff from the Fiscal's Office but that person has since moved on and the same support is now not available. It is reported that the Fiscal's Office is under extreme pressure with a lot of their senior staff leaving. The High Court Clerks and Advocate Deputes are described as very helpful and supportive.

We were advised that there are policy/practice gaps and on occasion there are young people turning up at court whom the Witness Service are not aware of and there are also cases where special measures have been granted but the witness does not get them eg a trial Depute may ask a witness if they would accept an alternative special measure for example screens rather than CCTV or to have the trial postponed.

Relations between the Witness Service and Victim Information and Advice are described as always being good.

We were advised that

• Sometimes the Witness Service has to tell the court what the special measures are because they had not been recorded by the Clerks
• There is also an issue concerning the lack of information relating to nil measures (where the witness has refused any special measures). This is not being recorded by the Scottish Courts Service.
• Work is required nationally to obtain statistical information on the special measures used

Remote sites are also described to us as an issue. There is one site in Aberdeen which we were told is not being used and the sound proofing of the site is an issue. We were advised of one case where the equipment was not working at a site in Aberdeen and the child had to give evidence by CCTV within the courthouse. The provision of these is, of course, the responsibility of Scottish Courts Service and not that of the Procurator Fiscal.

We are advised from the Area Business Manager for Grampian that they are aware that there is an issue concerning remote sites and steps are being made to address them.

The Vulnerable Witness Officer Pilot Aberdeen Steering Group developed and introduced a card which was given to the police to hand out to victims and witnesses. This card details contact numbers, information about the process and what to do next. This is helping to fill the gap until a mandatory 'vulnerability' field is available in the standard police report.

We were told that there had been joint training provided to NHS Grampian relating to the Emergency Workers Act. This included representatives from NHS Grampian, Police and Victim Information and Advice. It was reported to be a key piece of joint work and the representative from Victim Information and Advice is described as very proactive and very helpful.

There is joint training provided by the Witness Service, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Victim Information and Advice for Witness Service volunteers and staff. There is no similar training for Fiscal Office staff by Victim Support but representatives from the Appropriate Adults scheme are involved in training Fiscals.

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