Lord Chief Justice confirms plans for specialist judges
A “core group” of specially trained judges will be used for cases involving “significantly vulnerable” witnesses or serious sex cases likely to last more than 10 days, the Lord Chief Justice has confirmed.
In a letter to the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, Lord Judge said such cases would be tried by a judge selected, on a case-by-case basis, by the resident judge and approved by a presiding judge. A list of judges likely to be selected is to be drawn up at each Crown Court. The Judicial College will then provide bespoke training on how best to conduct trials involving vulnerable witnesses and how to manage multi-defendant trials.
Judge Rook QC, who sits at the Old Bailey, has agreed to mentor the selected judges, while an ongoing initiative by Judge Arbuthnot, the deputy chief magistrate, aims to ensure cases involving very young witnesses come to trial within 12 weeks.
In June, the Home Affairs Committee called for specific guidance and training for judges in child sexual exploitation cases, and highlighted the risk of multiple defendants cross-examining vulnerable witnesses.
Earlier this month, a CPS barrister sparked public outrage by referring to a 13 year-old girl as “predatory” and “sexually experienced” during the sentencing of her 41 year-old abuser. A recent child prostitution case where a witness was cross-examined by seven barristers over 12 days has also caused alarm.
Lord Judge rejected the call for specialist courts to be used where children are required to give evidence, as this would lead to longer waiting times and would be expensive to set up and run.
Baroness Deech, chair of the Bar Standards Board (BSB), welcomed the announcement, adding that the new Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates, being introduced next month, would assess advocate’s ability to deal with vulnerable witnesses.
