Single court sessions for children ruled out

CHILD witnesses in Scottish court cases face having to continue giving evidence in multiple sessions after Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf ruled out an approach that would allow them to provide testimony in one go.

The suggestion was made by Lord Carloway, whose 2015 review envisaged a system similar to Barnahus, the Norwegian model, where those under 16 would give their evidence away from court and in a single session to specially-trained professionals.

It comes after children said that repeatedly having to describe what happened to them in a court environment could harm them and affect the quality of their evidence.

But critics of the Norwegian system have questioned how there can be a fair trial without the defence’s right to cross-examine a witness.

Mr Yousaf has confirmed Scotland will develop a version of Barnahus for dealing with child witnesses and victims of sexual assault away from the the court room.

However, in a letter confirming the move, he also said there were “challenges associated with developing the Barnahus approach in the context of Scotland’s adversarial legal system”.

The Scottish system of proof means witnesses require to be cross-examined by the defence.

Mr Yousaf said: “While the ‘one forensic interview’ approach, which is in place in many Barnahus models across Europe, would not be feasible in the Scottish adversarial system at this time, consideration can be given to how the existing ways evidence is pre-recorded can be incorporated as part of the adaptation of the concept for Scotland.”

Some experts say this would pave the way to children being cross-examined, albeit away from court, meaning they would relive their ordeal more than once.

It is understood the Scottish Government had been considering Australia’s Pigot model, which allows for cross-examination to take place but to be pre-recorded.

Mary Glasgow, chief executive of Children 1st, said of the development: “It is everyone’s interests, including the accused, to develop a Scottish Barnahus, rooted in children’s rights.

“Children say that repeatedly having to tell what happened to them, in unfriendly and sometimes hostile, court environments harms them and can affect the quality of their evidence.

“In turn, this can affect the fairness of a trial.”

She added: “Rather than rule out anything at this stage, the development of the Scottish standards should start by considering how through systems change we can support children to give their best evidence to ensure justice for all.”

The Barnahus or Children’s House model was introduced in Norway following widespread criticism of low prosecution and conviction rates in relation to child abuse.

Inside the child’s house, a specially trained interviewer asks questions, while other parties watch via a video link. Any questions they have are fed through an earpiece to the interviewer. Lawyers for the accused have to put all their questions to witnesses at this point.

Advocates say the benefit is children need only recount their ordeal once.

The Scottish Court and Tribunals Service recommended last year that children involved in cases for the most serious crimes should be spared involvement in the court process altogether.

A Government spokesman said: “Barnahus operates differently in each of the countries using it and does not always feature a single forensic interview. We will look closely at how elements of the approach would work in the context of Scotland’s adversarial legal system, including the requirement for cross-examination.”