Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017

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Amendment of Criminal Evidence Act 1992

30. The Criminal Evidence Act 1992 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following section for section 12:

“Interpretation and application - Part III

12. (1) In this Part—

‘family member’, in relation to a victim, means—

(a) a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the victim,

(b) a child or step-child of the victim,

(c) a parent or grandparent of the victim,

(d) a brother, sister, half brother or half sister of the victim,

(e) a grandchild of the victim,

(f) an aunt, uncle, nephew or niece of the victim, and

(g) any other person—

(i) who is or, where the victim is deceased, was dependent on the victim, or

(ii) who a court considers has or, where the victim is deceased, had a sufficiently close connection with the victim as to warrant his or her being treated as a family member;

‘relevant offence’ means—

(a) a sexual offence;

(b) an offence involving violence or the threat of violence to a person;

(c) an offence under section 3 , 4 , 5 or 6 of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 ;

(d) an offence under section 2 , 4 or 7 of the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 ;

(e) an offence consisting of attempting or conspiring to commit, or of aiding or abetting, counselling, procuring or inciting the commission of, an offence mentioned in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d);

‘victim’ means—

(a) a natural person, other than an accused, who has suffered harm, including physical, mental or emotional harm, or economic loss, which was directly caused by an offence, and

(b) where the death of a person referred to in paragraph (a) is caused directly by the offence, a family member, provided that the family member concerned has not been charged with, or is not under investigation for, an offence in connection with the death of the person.

(2) The application of this Part is not dependent on the commission of an offence having to be established (nor is it dependent on establishing whether the person concerned suffered any harm caused by an offence).”,

(b) in section 13—

(i) in subsection (1), by the substitution of “a relevant offence” for “an offence to which this Part applies”,

(ii) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(1A) In any proceedings (including proceedings under section 4E or 4F of the Criminal Procedure Act 1967 ) relating to an offence, other than a relevant offence, a court may, subject to section 14AA, grant leave for a victim of the offence to give evidence, whether from within or outside the State, through a live television link.”,

and

(iii) in subsection (2), by the insertion of “or (1A)” after “subsection (1)”,

(c) in section 14—

(i) in subsection (1)(a), by the substitution of “a relevant offence” for “an offence to which this Part applies”,

(ii) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(1A) Subject to section 14AA, where—

(a) a person is accused of an offence, other than a relevant offence, and

(b) a victim of the offence who is under 18 years of age, is giving, or is to give, evidence through a live television link,

the court may, on the application of the prosecution or the accused, if satisfied that the interests of justice require that any questions to be put to the victim be put through an intermediary, direct that any such questions be so put.”,

and

(iii) in subsection (3), by the insertion of “or (1A)” after “subsection (1)”,

(d) by the insertion of the following section after section 14:

“Placement of screen etc. for giving of evidence

14A. (1) Where a person who is under 18 years of age is to give evidence other than through a live television link in respect of a relevant offence, the court may, on the application of the prosecution or the accused, direct that a screen or other similar device be positioned, in an appropriate place, so as to prevent the witness from seeing the accused when giving evidence, unless the court is satisfied that in all the circumstances of the case such a direction would be contrary to the interests of justice.

(2) Subject to section 14AA, where—

(a) a person who is a victim of an offence, other than a relevant offence, is under 18 years of age and the person is to give evidence, other than through a live television link, in respect of the offence, or

(b) a person who is a victim of any offence has attained the age of 18 years and the person is to give evidence, other than through a live television link, in respect of such an offence,

the court may, on the application of the prosecution or the accused, if satisfied that the interests of justice so require, direct that a screen or other similar device be positioned, in an appropriate place, so as to prevent the victim from seeing the accused when giving evidence.

(3) A witness giving evidence under subsection (1) or (2) shall be capable of seeing and hearing and being seen and heard by—

(a) the judge and jury (if any),

(b) legal representatives acting in the proceedings,

(c) any interpreter, intermediary appointed under section 14 or any other person appointed to assist the witness,

and shall be capable of being heard by the accused.”,

(e) by the insertion of the following section after section 14A:

“Matters to be taken into account under sections 13, 14 and 14A regarding victims

14AA. The court, in deciding—

(a) whether to grant leave under section 13(1A) for a victim to give evidence through a live television link,

(b) whether, under section 14(1A), the interests of justice require that it direct that questions be put to the victim through an intermediary, or

(c) whether, under section 14A(2), the interests of justice require that it direct that a screen or other similar device be positioned, in an appropriate place, so as to prevent the victim from seeing the accused when giving evidence,

shall have regard to the need to protect the victim from secondary and repeat victimisation, intimidation or retaliation, taking into account—

(i) the nature and circumstances of the case, and

(ii) the personal characteristics of the victim.”,

(f) by the insertion of the following section after section 14AA:

“Wigs and gowns

14B. Where a person who is under 18 years of age—

(a) is giving evidence in respect of a relevant offence, or

(b) is giving evidence in respect of any other offence of which he or she is a victim,

neither the judge nor the barrister or solicitor concerned in the examination of the witness shall wear a wig or gown.”,

(g) in paragraph (a) of section 14C(1), by the substitution of “a relevant offence” for “an offence to which this Part applies”,

(h) in section 15(1)—

(i) in paragraph (a), by the deletion of “who is charged with an offence to which this Part applies”,

(ii) in paragraph (b)—

(I) by the deletion of “the person in respect of whom the offence is alleged to have been committed, or” and

(II) by the substitution of “section 16(1)(b)” for “section 16(1)(b)(ii)”,

(i) in section 16(1)—

(i) in paragraph (a), by the substitution of “a relevant offence” for “an offence to which this Part applies”, and

(ii) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (i):

“(i) by a person who is under 18 years of age in relation to an offence of which he or she is a victim, or”,

(j) in section 17—

(i) by the deletion of “to which this Part applies”, and

(ii) by the substitution of “through a live television link or by means of a videorecording or that a screen or other similar device be used in the giving of evidence” for “through a live television link or by means of a videorecording”,

(k) by the substitution of the following section for section 18:

“Identification evidence

18. Where a person (in this section referred to as ‘the witness’)—

(a) gives evidence in respect of a relevant offence, or

(b) gives evidence in respect of any other offence of which he or she is a victim,

through a live television link pursuant to section 13(1) or (1A) or using a screen or other similar device pursuant to section 14A, then—

(i) in case evidence is given that the accused was known to the witness before the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed, the witness shall not be required to identify the accused at the trial of the offence, unless the court in the interests of justice directs otherwise, and

(ii) in any other case, evidence by a person other than the witness that the witness identified the accused at an identification parade as being the offender shall be admissible as evidence that the accused was so identified.”,

(l) in section 19—

(i) by the substitution of “sections 14, 14B, 15 and 16” for “sections 13(1)(a), 14(1)(b), 15(1)(b) and 16(1)(a) and (b)(ii)”,

(ii) by the deletion of “and the reference in section 16(1)(b)(i) to a person under 14 years of age”, and

(iii) by the substitution of “a mental disorder, within the meaning of section 5 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 ,” for “mental handicap”,

(m) in section 19A(13), by the substitution of “subsection (11)” for “subsection (12)”, and

(n) in section 29, by the substitution of “section 13(1) and (1A)” for “section 13(1)”.