Committee
Justice 1 Committee, 14 Jan 2004
14 Jan 2004 · S2 · Justice 1 Committee
Item of business
Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Christine Vallely:
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We did not do research on the defence, because our brief confined us to considering civilian prosecution witnesses. However, in the course of the research, we came across a wealth of feeling in certain areas, particularly in the CPS, that defendants often play the system, delay and are absent and have to be chased. However, we are again talking about small numbers of non-victim witnesses. The statistics indicated that there was an average of 1.6 witnesses per case, so generally the only witness was the victim.I will add to what Dee Cook has said. Our analysis of the case files threw up results that were slightly different from the qualitative results that we obtained from direct interviews with victims and witnesses. The statistics seemed to show that more witnesses who were not victims attended. It tended to be victims who did not attend.I want to make a point about intimidation. In my view, the problem is fear of intimidation rather than actual intimidation. We did not come across many instances of actual intimidation. The feeling tended to be that because the case was in a magistrates court, the offender would not attract a large sentence even if he was found guilty. People knew that they would have to continue living in the area where the incident happened and where the defendant and his family live, so they would rather get on and not pursue the matter. Fear was a problem.Dee Cook referred to problems of communication. There is a duty on the CPS to communicate directly with victims when there is a change in the charge. However, there is no duty on it to keep them informed of the progress of the trial or to contact witnesses to tell them what is happening. Often people told us that a case had been going on for ages, that the incident happened X months ago and that they had heard nothing since they made their statements. They did not know whether the defendant had pleaded guilty. One person said that they read in the newspaper that a defendant had pleaded guilty.Communication is a serious issue. The witness care pilot that was introduced in the west midlands last January required contact with witnesses to inform them of the progress of cases. There was one very successful scheme in West Bromwich, which involved one person ringing all the witnesses before the case came to court to ask whether everything was still okay and whether they needed transport to be arranged. That was a big responsibility for one person, but it produced a significant increase in the number of witnesses attending. The personal touch and talking over in a friendly way what was likely to happen when witnesses arrived at the court worked well. That seemed to be what people wanted.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
Item 2 is consideration of the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill. The committee will be aware that this is our last session of oral evidence on ...
Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
Good morning. Can you give us a brief outline of the scope of the research that you have conducted? What courts did you examine? What was the nature of the o...
Christine Vallely (University of Wolverhampton):
Good morning, everyone. The research originated from the cracked and ineffective trials data for England and Wales, which showed that many cases collapsed be...
Mr Maxwell:
SNP
You answered most of my questions. In a moment, I will pick up on a couple of points that you mentioned. I asked you whether some offences involved a greater...
Christine Vallely:
Yes. We found that non-attendance related predominantly to offences that involved violence, rather than property, harassment or even intimidation. Younger wi...
Mr Maxwell:
SNP
Will you explain what cracked and ineffective cases are?
Christine Vallely:
Since about two years ago, magistrates all around the country have had to complete at the end of each case a form to say whether the case was effective—wheth...
Mr Maxwell:
SNP
Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that you said that a chaotic lifestyle did not seem to be a reason why people do not turn up to trial. Perhaps it is a ...
Professor Dee Cook (University of Wolverhampton):
That is correct. Our original research question tested that. It asked what it was about some victims and witnesses and their lives that rendered them either ...
Mr Maxwell:
SNP
You mentioned early guilty pleas, the idea of which did not seem to be getting through to the accused. Could you expand on that a little? The idea is that, i...
Christine Vallely:
There are a variety of reasons for that. One question is at what stage the signal should be given to the defendant that there will be a discount for an early...
Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab):
Lab
You have gone through the principal reasons for non-attendance and comprehensively debunked the notion of the witness deficit—that is not where the problem l...
Professor Cook:
Non-attendance is a specific issue for victims in domestic violence cases, but the interesting point is that, in general, the patterns and numbers are not mu...
Marlyn Glen:
Lab
Did witnesses for the defence attend court more or less often?
Christine Vallely:
We did not do research on the defence, because our brief confined us to considering civilian prosecution witnesses. However, in the course of the research, w...
Professor Cook:
The case study of victims who were supported by the scheme indicated that more than 90 per cent of them turned up on the day. Often the support is relatively...
Marlyn Glen:
Lab
You have talked about the factors affecting witnesses. Can you comment briefly on the risk assessment framework that you recommend?
Professor Cook:
By the end of the research, we came to the conclusion that the risk assessment framework would be a framework for issues that the criminal justice system nee...
Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con):
Con
I want to tease out what lies behind non-attendance in domestic violence cases. Is it only the complainer who does not attend, or does non-attendance extend ...
Professor Cook:
We are just completing a piece of work on specialist domestic violence courts for the CPS. We have found that it is rare that witnesses other than the victim...
Margaret Mitchell:
Con
I was wondering about cases where the victim does not have community support and the couple have apparently resolved the problem themselves but the violence ...
Professor Cook:
There is a lot of evidence that repeat victimisation is dramatically reduced with the advent of specialist domestic violence courts and where there is co-ord...
Margaret Mitchell:
Con
That is helpful, thank you.
Mr Maxwell:
SNP
I seek clarification on one point. You talked about a reduction of 35 per cent. That sounds highly significant. Is that just in domestic violence cases?
Professor Cook:
Yes. There is a 35 per cent reduction in domestic violence cases.
Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab):
Lab
You have talked about the need for continuity and co-ordination of support for witnesses and you said that that would tackle the root problem of non-attendan...
Christine Vallely:
In mid-May, when Professor Cook and I were in the middle of our case study, we were suddenly asked to evaluate that scheme, which was not part of our origina...
Bill Butler:
Lab
Were the police the lead in the pilot?
Christine Vallely:
In the west midlands scheme, the witness care team—such as it was—was specifically located in CPS offices. In the best model, police witness warners—who are ...
Bill Butler:
Lab
Was the scheme changing the culture and the approach to the problem?