Article 61 Video recordings of testimony from child witnesses

(1)

Any application by the prosecutor or an accused for leave under section 32A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988^f1 for evidence to be given by a witness by means of a video recording shall be made as soon as is practicable after the opening of proceedings.

(2)

An application may not be made under paragraph (1) above without the leave of the court unless not less than 28 days before the date appointed for the trial the party making the application has served a notice in writing together with a copy of the video recording to which the application relates on every other party, the court administration officer and the magistrate stating—

(a)

the grounds of the application;

(b)

where the witness is under the age of 18, the date of birth of the witness;

(c)

the name of the witness;

(d)

the date on which the video recording was made;

(e)

that in the opinion of the applicant the witness is willing and able to attend court for cross-examination; and

(f)

the circumstances in which the video recording was made.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: Section 32A was inserted by the Criminal Justice Act 1991 (c. 53), section 54. Section 32A applies to proceedings before Standing Civilian Courts by virtue of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Application to Service Courts) (Evidence) Order 1996 subject to the modifications specified therein.