Written question asked by Ian Taylor (Conservative) on Monday, 31 October 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 November 2005. It was answered by Fiona Mactaggart (Labour) on Monday, 21 November 2005 on behalf of the Home Office.

Witnesses

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to improve support for witnesses who fear for their wellbeing if they give evidence in open court.

Answer: Provisions in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 enable a court to order that a witness who suffers fear or distress receives assistance through one or more special measures. These include live videolink, screens and clearing the public gallery. The court may also prohibit publication of information that would lead to public identification of the witness.Witnesses who are subject to serious intimidation may be provided with specific security measures as part of an on-going risk assessment by the relevant law enforcement agency and in some cases the witness may be relocated. At the end of its second year of operation in October 2005, the National Witness Mobility Service had handled over 300 witness relocation requests received through local police forces and social landlords.The Serious Organised Crime and Policing Act 2005 provides clear statutory rules and procedures governing witness protection which will be implemented fully by April 2006.Intimidation of a witness is an offence under section 51 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 in relation to criminal proceedings and section 39 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 in relation to civil proceedings.

Secondary information