Victims and Witnesses - Standing up for Justice

You have the power to make your street a safer place to live. Reporting crime and having the courage to stand up in court makes a real difference.

What happens to victims and witnesses?

When a crime is reported to the police they record it and start an investigation.

During the investigation they:

• Talk to the victim
• Talk to witnesses
• Talk to suspects
• Take statements
• Collect evidence

The police try to find out what happened, who did it and why.

When the police have enough evidence they ask a Prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service to decide if a suspect should be charged with a crime.

You can find out more about how the Prosecutor makes this decision at the Crown Prosecution Service website.

Witness Care Units

When a person is charged with a crime, the police and Prosecutor inform the local Witness Care Unit.

The Witness Care Unit is responsible for looking after victims and witnesses from the point where a suspect is charged with a crime to the end of a case. The people who work for Witness Care Units are called Witness Care Officers

Your Witness Care Officer is responsible for:

• Keeping you informed of what is happening with the court case
• Finding out if you need special measures help in court
• Finding out if you need other help such as transport, language difficulties, child care, or medical issues
• Finding out if you are worried about intimidation
• Talking to you about what will happen in court
• Arranging visits to court before the trial, if necessary
• Helping you to contact other people who may be able to help, like Victim Support

If the person charged with the crime pleads guilty (says they did the crime) you probably won't need to give evidence in court. If they plead not guilty (say they didn't do the crime), you may need to give evidence in court. Most people charged with a crime plead guilty.

Help in court - Special measures

Special measures help people under the age of 17, vulnerable people, such as people who are scared, elderly or disabled, and people who have problems communicating, give the best evidence they can.

What are special measures?

• Using a video of your evidence in court
• Answering questions using a live video link from another room in the court
• In sexual cases:
  • Giving evidence in private
  • Clearing the court of people who do not need to be there
• Advocates and Judges in the Crown Court removing their wigs and gowns
• Aids, such as sign and symbol boards, for people who have difficulty speaking
• Screens to prevent a witness having to see the defendant
• An helper (intermediary) to help explain the questions or answers if necessary

Courts can order newspapers, TV and radio not to identify children and young people involved in court cases. This means they cannot publish their names, addresses, their school, pictures or any details that could identify them.

What happens to witnesses in court?

Young people are looked after by a witness supporter in court.

Your Witness Care Officer will try to organise a meeting with the Prosecutor, Judge and Magistrate before the court case, to talk about what will happen in court.

We try to make sure that you do not have to wait more than two hours to give evidence.

Giving evidence by video link

If you are giving evidence via a "live link" you will go to a special room away from the court. Sometimes this can be in a different building.

The "live link room" contains a TV, a camera and a seat. You sit in the seat in front of the TV so that you can see the Judge (or Magistrates), the Prosecutor and the Defence Lawyer.

You won't be able to see the defendants.

The people in the courtroom can see you answer questions via the camera.

If you have made a statement on video, this will be shown to the court before you are asked questions.

Giving evidence in court

When you are a witness in court you stand in the witness box. The witness box may have screens so you don't have to look at the defendants if this has been arranged through special measures.

Normally people stand up in the witness box but if you find standing difficult, you can ask the magistrate or the judge if you can sit down.

You will be asked to take the oath. This means you have to swear to tell the truth on the holy book of your religion. If you prefer, you can "affirm", that is, promise to tell the truth.

The Prosecutor (sometimes called an advocate) will ask you questions and then the defence lawyer will ask you questions. This is called cross-examination.

What is Cross-examination?

Cross-examination is an essential part of our justice system.

The law in England and Wales is based on the idea that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty. Cross-examination tests your evidence to make sure it is real.

It is important to remember:

• It isn't personal: it's the lawyers' job to make sure you have not made a mistake
• You are not on trial: the lawyers are not trying to make people think you are stupid, or call you a liar
• If the questions become too aggressive, the lawyer who called you as a witness has a right to ask the judge or magistrates to make the lawyer change their style of questioning
• The judge or magistrates can also ask the lawyer to stop the questions

You may also be asked questions by a Magistrate, the Clerk or the Judge. In a Crown Court the Jury can write down questions for the Judge to read out.

When you have given your evidence, the court will tell you that you may leave the witness box.

You may be told that you are released, this means that you can leave. You may be asked to stay after you have given evidence if something new comes up.

The Witness Care Officer will tell you the result of the case.