More court room protection needed for local victims of abuse

Friday 20 February 2015

The courts need to do more to protect vulnerable witnesses and make sure victims of abuse are not overlooked in the battle for justice says one of the Island’s top lawyers.

Advocate Timothy Hanson says the system needs a big overhaul to make sure lawyers don’t go too far in the defence of alleged abusers and cause victims even more distress.

The Hanson Renouf partner says the problem was highlighted in the case of a man convicted of five counts of indecent assault on young girls in Jersey a couple of years ago.

Our Court of Appeal later criticised the trial judge for not stepping in earlier to protect one of the abuse victims who was being harshly questioned by the defendant’s advocate.

The Court of Appeal said: “The fact was that an over-long and, in our judgment, an over-intrusive cross-examination had already subjected the witness to distress beyond what was appropriate or necessary for the defence to the allegations to be put.

“If there is any criticism to be made of the conduct of the trial it is that the Commissioner did not intervene earlier. Any idea that a trial judge cannot limit cross-examination to issues which on proper analysis have no true relevance or to a length which does not unduly oppress a witness should be put to rest. The court has a duty of fairness to all those appearing before it.”

Advocate Hanson said: “This is a valuable statement by our Court of Appeal but much more work needs to be done, and across different types of proceedings, to protect and limit the distress caused to vulnerable witnesses.

“We have to ensure that their rights are not overlooked in a system that historically has focused on the (alleged) offender’s right to a “fair” hearing.

Advocate Hanson has suggested that the courts should use an expert to assess how a vulnerable witness could be protected and at the same time ensure a fair hearing for the alleged abuser.

He said the suicide of Frances Andrade just over two years ago was a wake up call for the UK legal system. She was abused as a child and later gave evidence at the criminal trail of her abuser in England. The defence lawyer suggested she was a liar and a fantasist and the stress and upset finally pushed her over the edge.