Criminal Proceedings: Sexual Offences

(asked on 13th May 2019) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the wellbeing of victims of sexual assault of undergoing cross-examination during the court process.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 21st May 2019

In the Government’s first ever cross-government Victim’s Strategy, we committed to make the court environment more victim friendly and to improve access to special measures.

Victims may be provided with a wide range of special measures to help them give their best evidence in court. The measures available include the power for a court to order arrangements for live video links, video recorded evidence in chief, and screens around the witness box, and from this summer an additional special measure - pre-recorded cross-examination - will be will be available for witnesses who are adult complainants in sexual offences, in three courts - Liverpool, Leeds and Kingston upon Thames. This marks delivery of another commitment in the Victims Strategy published in September 2018.

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