Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he plans to take to ensure that victims of domestic violence or abuse are not cross-examined by the alleged perpetrator in a criminal, civil or family court.

There are provisions within Sections 34 - 36 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 that gives a criminal court power to prohibit the accused from cross-examining a witness in person.

We are determined to improve the family justice response to domestic abuse and intend to legislate to give family courts the power to prevent perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims in person in family proceedings. We will consider how such measures might be applied in wider civil proceedings, taking account of lessons learnt from their implementation in the family courts.