16:17
Tieng Anh Vui
The youngest and most vulnerable victims of crime are to be protected from the trauma of appearing in court under new government proposals.
The plans, being piloted for use in England and Wales, will mean victims can be questioned on video by defence barristers before cases are in court.
It comes amid concerns that some children have been treated with hostility in sexual abuse trials.
Ministers said defendants' right to a fair trial would be preserved.
Prosecutors and police chiefs are also publishing new guidelines on trials involving child sexual abuse.
Children and vulnerable adults can already give evidence from behind a screen or by video-link. Both techniques are designed to make the court experience less stressful.
Sometimes, the prosecution uses a recorded police interview with the victim to reduce the time the individual must spend in court repeating the same account.
When witnesses do appear, judges can stop overly-aggressive cross-examination, but there are no limits on the duration of questioning - or the number of lawyers who can question a witness or victim.
In sexual abuse cases, victims and witnesses can be cross-examined on the precise and graphic details of what happened as a defence lawyer explores whether an account is genuine.
NEW PROTECTIONS PILOT
- Vulnerable witness or victim attends court before trial
- They go to a special room and are connected to the courtroom by video link
- The judge and all lawyers for defendants can hear them give evidence
- The recording is then used in the trial - so the victim or witness does not have to appear in person before a crowded court
- If a new matter arises during the trial that was unforeseen during the recording, the individual could be questioned again
- If the system is extended nationwide, the victim/witness may be recorded at a location other than court.
And in one recent case, according to the government, a girl was in the witness box for three weeks as she was questioned by seven defence barristers.
However, ministers say they will now implement section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 which allows the cross-examination of children and vulnerable victims to be recorded before trial so that they do not have to take part in the live process.
The legislation stresses that a victim or witness may be recalled for further cross-examination if lawyers need to question them about points that were not apparent at the time of the recording.
Separate rooms
The Ministry of Justice said that it would pilot the changes over six months in courts in Leeds, Liverpool and Kingston-upon-Thames.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: "The particularly hostile treatment of victims and witnesses in court has nothing to do with fairness or justice.
"It is simply not right that young and vulnerable victims are forced to relive the most traumatic experience they have ever had - often for days on end - when cross-examined in court.
"We must put a stop to this, but without compromising everyone's right to a fair trial."
Later on Tuesday, the director of public prosecutions and the College of Policing will publish proposed new guidelines for prosecutions involving child sexual abuse.
On Monday, the influential Commons Home Affairs Committee issued a report on child sexual exploitation. It said recent cases had revealed there was insufficient protection for vulnerable witnesses - and that the 1999 video recording proposal should be implemented as Parliament intended.
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