Perhaps I can trespass on the committee’s time for a couple of minutes just to say that I am pleased to be giving evidence on the bill, which represents a significant milestone on a journey in which I have been personally involved since 2014, as a member of the small group that conducted the initial research leading to publication of the first “Evidence and Procedure Review Report” in early 2015. That started a process of consultation and development of ideas for better ways of taking evidence from vulnerable witnesses.
From the start, and throughout the process, we have sought to ensure that measures that we could introduce without legislation had the twin objectives of reducing potential harm and distress to witnesses and increasing the opportunity for reliable, accurate and comprehensive evidence to be given.
The work following the initial report involved all those who have an interest in the criminal justice sector. We knew that the best way of getting genuinely workable proposals that people on all sides could buy into was to get those people working together to develop them, so the working group included representatives of the judiciary, the Faculty of Advocates, the Law Society of Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, justice agencies, third sector organisations that represent the interests of children and victims of crime and, of course, the police. The quality of the group’s collaborative work was very high indeed, and the practice note, which I know many of you have seen, came very much from that collaborative process.
The pre-recorded evidence workstream of the review had two major outcomes. First, it paved the way for the practice note that I have just mentioned, which was designed to use existing legislation and to enhance the use of commissioner hearings. That, in effect, introduced the ground rules hearing that is referred to in the bill, which will regulate the conduct of commissioner hearings, bring greater consistency and put a focus on the witness’s needs. It has also led to a significant increase in the number of commissioner hearings, which has enabled us to evaluate that work.
Secondly, as members will know, the working group set out a long-term vision for taking evidence from all vulnerable witnesses. We recognised that that could not be achieved overnight, that there would need to be graduated steps towards a more modern and consistent approach that would be in the interests of witnesses, and that it would take time.
The bill represents one of the significant staging posts on that journey. For that reason, I and my fellow senators of the College of Justice generally support the bill’s proposals.