Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve the adequacy of witness testimony.

We are committed to helping all witnesses give their best possible evidence so that offenders are brought to justice. As part of the cross-government Victim’s Strategy (published in September 2018), the Government committed to the wider provision of special measures for vulnerable and intimated witnesses, both when giving evidence and during cross-examination.

These measures include:

• the use of video recorded police interviews (called ABEs – Achieving Best Evidence)

instead of written statements;

• the removal of wigs and gowns by judges and barristers;
• cross examination at court via a live video link
• video-recorded evidence-in-chief and cross examination behind a screen or curtain, so

that they are shielded from sight of the defendant

• the support of a Registered Intermediary for witnesses who require communication assistance when giving evidence.

The Victim’s Strategy also reaffirmed our commitment to rolling out pre-recorded cross examination, as provided for in section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, for vulnerable witnesses such as child witnesses under 16 or witnesses vulnerable due to physical or mental disability. By June 2019 this has commenced at nine Crown Court centres in England and Wales. In June 2019 we also extended section 28 to intimidated witnesses who are a victim of crime in sexual and modern slavery offences by testing the provision in the Crown Court centres at Leeds, Liverpool, and Kingston upon Thames.