This guide is for practitioners – such as police officers, social workers, teachers, healthcare workers, the Witness Service and independent sexual violence advisers – working with a child complainant in a case of child sexual abuse which reaches the Crown Court. It aims to help you understand what happens during a criminal prosecution so that you can keep the child’s needs and perspectives central, help them understand what is happening and why, and support them and their family effectively.
What happens when a case goes to the Crown Court?
If the defendant pleads guilty, there will be no trial and the case will progress directly to sentencing. There may be a mini-trial before a Judge on some aspects of the case (a ‘Newton hearing’) where the child may have to give evidence.
If the defendant pleads not guilty to some or all of the charges, the case will progress through pre-trial and trial stages.
There may be a Ground Rules Hearing before the trial, where the judge makes directions for the fair treatment and effective participation of the child and any other vulnerable witnesses.
The judge has a duty to control the way in which the child is questioned by the advocates, ensuring that they adapt their questioning so the child can give the best evidence of which they are capable, while ensuring fairness to the defendant.
The judge must ensure that the child is able to understand the questions. The manner, tenor, tone, language and duration of questioning must be appropriate to the child’s developmental age and communication abilities.
A registered intermediary, if one is appointed, will have been consulted by the court, and often by a cross-examining advocate, for advice in formulating the questions.
The judge is responsible for ensuring that questioning is kept to relevant matters, and for explaining to the jury any constraints on the questioning of the witness due to their youth or personal circumstances.
How may the child be feeling?
- The child may feel relieved that the person who abused them will face justice, but is also likely to be nervous about giving evidence and concerned for their family and siblings.
- Speaking publicly about abuse is stressful for anyone, but especially daunting for children, as court proceedings are likely to be unfamiliar to them.
- The child may feel a loss of control and be fearful or anxious about seeing the defendant.
- Without clear explanations of the trial process and the roles of people in court, they may feel confused.
- Giving evidence can be confusing and overwhelming; the child may struggle to continue if they do not understand what is happening.
“I was terrified to go to court.”
“It’s just like re-living it all again.”
“[I had to] air my business out to strangers … I was forced to do that in court … I had to find my voice that day.”
“You’re nervous about seeing the person again and being put in court, like to tell them your side of the story in front of all these people you don’t know and being pressured.”
“The barrister confused me and then they had to finish it, like they had to stop everything. Yeah. [It ended] Because I couldn’t go on, because I didn’t know what to do or anything, because they confused me, I didn’t know anything.”
“I had my ISVA in the live link room and I remember afterwards, she said ‘I was really proud when you said, “Look I’m here to say the truth and that’s what I’m saying”'."
For the sources of the quotations above, please download our full practice guide to this stage of the Response Pathway.
Whatever your role in relation to the child and family, you can help the child in many ways. Think about what support the child might need before, during and after the trial, and how you can contribute to providing this support: .
- Consider whether the child needs and is ready for therapeutic support, bearing in mind that the Crown Prosecution Service says children can receive emotional support and therapy prior to a court case.
- Consider how the trial might impact on the child's education, relationships, activities, and emotional and physical health – including if they are going through both criminal and family law proceedings – and what you can do to mitigate these impacts.
- If an independent sexual violence adviser (ISVA) or a child and young person’s sexual violence advocate (CYPSVA) has been assigned to the child, they can provide support and explain the procedural steps as the case progresses through the criminal justice system – you can request a referral to an ISVA/SYPSVA if the child does not have one.
- Ensure a referral has been made for the child to receive practical information and emotional support from the Witness Service.
Prior to the trial, the CPS and the police should together:
- Consider whether to ask the National Crime Agency’s Witness Intermediary Team to appoint a registered intermediary, who can support the child to understand the questions and proceedings in court
- Consider what special measures (such as closing the public gallery, removing wigs and gowns, and providing communication aids) to request at the Ground Rules Hearing, so that the child can give their best evidence.
If the child will be required to give evidence or be cross-examined at the trial, the CPS and the police should consider how they will be supported and their safety assured:
- Check that the Witness Service is offering them a pre-trial familiarisation visit.
- Allow them to review the Achieving Best Evidence interview to refresh their memory before they attend court.
- Ensure the child has an outline of the trial process so they can understand what will happen.
- Give the child an opportunity to meet the judge and lawyers in advance.
- Ensure the child has the opportunity to have a supporter (their ISVA/SYPSVA, for example, but not normally a family member) with them when they give evidence.
During the trial
- Everyone working in the courtroom should try to behave sensitively towards the child.
- After the child has given their evidence, their parent(s) may want to plan something to enjoy, but you may want to let them know that the child is likely to be tired.
- Inform the child and family that trials can last for several days, and the jury’s verdict is unlikely to be reached on the day(s) when the child gives evidence.
- If the jury reaches a ‘guilty’ verdict, it is up to the judge to decide the sentence. It may be helpful to tell the child that the judge will often delay this decision for a few weeks, until a probation officer’s report about the defendant is supplied.
External links
- What Is a Newton Hearing and do I need one? [Magistrate Review]
- Judicial Protocol update: Expedition of cases involving witnesses under 10 years [National Police Chiefs’ Council, Crown Prosecution Service, HM Courts & Tribunals Service]
- Prosecution guidance: Safeguarding children as victims and witnesses [Crown Prosecution Service]
- Guidelines on prosecuting cases of child sexual abuse [Crown Prosecution Service]
- The Victims’ Code [Ministry of Justice]
- Equal Treatment Bench Book [Judicial College]
- Crown Court Compendium [Judicial College]
- Achieving best evidence in criminal proceedings [Ministry of Justice]
- Going to court (5–11 years) and Going to court and being a witness (12–17 years) [HM Courts & Tribunals Service] – booklets for young witnesses
- Video guides for children who will be attending court as a witness [HM Courts & Tribunals Service]
- Prosecution guidance: Pre-trial therapy [Crown Prosecution Service]
- Draft pre-trial therapy protocol: example template.[Bluestar Project]
- Independent sexual violence adviser: Statutory guidance [Ministry of Justice]
- Find an ISVA [The Survivors Trust]
- Get help from the Witness Service [Citizens Advice] – for trials outside London
- Support in your area [London Victim and Witness Service]
- 2013 Protocol and Good Practice Model on disclosure of information in cases of alleged child sexual abuse [Senior Presiding Judge, President of the Family Division, Crown Prosecution Service]
- Prosecution guidance: Speaking to witnesses at court [Crown Prosecution Service]