Yes, and that is the difficulty for us. I am here to represent the voices of the children we support and their families, to share their stories and to do justice to them in the best way that I can. That is incredibly difficult, because we believe that we do not have a justice system that is fit for purpose for children; we want to see the implementation of an entirely different system.
However, we are also practical and we know that we are where we are. As you say, we do not want to rush into something that has unintended consequences because we have worked at speed and have not taken into account all the other complexities in the system.
There are still things that we can do. As we have agreed, we could take a more holistic approach and children could go to one place—we could do that within the current system—where children’s evidence could be pre-recorded and they could access support. The answer is less about educating parents and more about supporting them to understand and navigate their way through what is currently a very complex system.
Therefore, we can make improvements to the current system at the same time as we continue to focus on the bigger prize, which is a much more child-centred, child rights-based justice system.
There are measures in the bill that are welcome, but there is still a challenge—as there always has been. Previous measures have not been implemented because the system is built not around children but around what the system needs and what the system thinks it requires from victims and witnesses.
You are right to point out that tension—it is there. However, we are obligated to the children we support, who continually tell us really painful, difficult stories about their experience of the justice system. They are very clear about some of the things that they want to change: they want to tell fewer people about the awful things that have happened to them; they want to get support much quicker so that they can understand what has happened to them and recover from it; they want to deal with a system that understands that they are children and so any delays impact on their ability to recall; and they want to be prepared and to understand the process in which they are engaged.
There is a tension because we want to see progress, but we know that the bill does not go far enough. We are starting in a really difficult place for children. We need to implement the bill but not forget that we have a much longer-term goal for children and that we really need to work towards a different system.
There are things that could be done immediately. The child witness suites are welcome, but they are a long way from the child’s house and barnahus models. We could have resources that mean that all the professionals are based in one place and that children go there to get all their needs met—evidence is pre-recorded and goes to court. There is nothing to prevent us from doing that.
There is a challenge around resources, but there is a cost to us all anyway, because these kids and young people pop up in other parts of the system.
I am not sure that I am answering your question, because you are right that there is a tension and we do not have the solution to that. We welcome elements of the bill, but we would like it to go further and we know that we are engaged in a process that is not designed around children.