Child victims of sexual abuse and the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales

Abstract

In recent years, concern has been expressed over the position of children as witnesses in criminal trials, particularly those who are victims of sexual abuse. Traditional legal requirements and procedures ensured that few children appeared in court. Those children who did appear as witnesses inevitably found the occasion to be a very stressful one. The changing attitudes of society towards children are resulting in reform of the criminal justice system in an effort to accommodate the child witness. This article explores the background to the current debate on child witnesses and summarises the findings of recent psychological research. The article then reviews recent reforms of the criminal justice system, including the recommendations of the Advisory Group on Video Evidence, and assessess the effectiveness of such reforms. The article concludes by looking towards the future at possible further reform, and warns that it will be no easy task to find a satisfactory balance between the rights of the accused in criminal trials and the best interests of the child witness