Statutes Amendment (Vulnerable Witnesses) Bill 2015 Passes Final Stages in SA
Monday 3 August 2015 @ 1.20 p.m. | Crime | Legal Research
The Statutes Amendment (Vulnerable Witnesses) Bill 2015 (No. 25 of 2015) from South Australia (SA) has just passed the final stages in Parliament, enabling special arrangements relating to vulnerable persons and the justice system.
Background to the Bill
According to the Second Reading Speech, the Statutes Amendment (Vulnerable Witnesses) Bill 2015 (the Bill) is an important measure to improve the position of vulnerable witnesses, namely children and persons with a disability, within the criminal justice system, both in and out of court. The bill extends to victims, witnesses, suspects and defendants.
The bill preserves an accused person's right to a fair trial, whilst recognising that the South Australian criminal justice system needs to be more accessible and responsive to the needs and interests of victims and witnesses who are children and persons with a disability. The bill builds on previous legislative reforms and the wider Disability Justice Plan, as well as responding to a a pivotal legal case involving seven intellectually disabled children who were allegedly sexually abused by their school bus driver. Sexual abuse charges against the bus driver were dropped because of the communication difficulties the intellectually disabled children faced giving evidence.
The Disability Justice Plan
The purpose of the Disability Justice Plan 2014-2017 is to make the criminal justice system more accessible and responsive to the needs of people with disability. In June 2014, the Government launched the Disability Justice Plan associated guidelines Supporting vulnerable witnesses in the giving of evidence: Guidelines for securing best evidence for investigative interviewers working with vulnerable witnesses. The Plan, guidelines and linked changes to the law provide a comprehensive approach designed to provide enhanced support for vulnerable witnesses who are in contact with the criminal justice system.
The Disability Justice Plan and the present bill have been formulated in close consultation with the disability sector. The implementation of the Disability Justice Plan and the present bill was a key policy commitment of the government. It was subsequently announced that the government would provide $3.246 million over four years to make the Disability Justice Plan a reality. To support the implementation of the bill, the government will be inviting tenders later this year under the Disability Justice Plan for both the specialist training for investigative interviewing of young children and people with a disability and the new communication partner model for people with complex communication needs.
Reaction to the Bill
Many Australian courts will not accept the evidence of intellectually disabled people because they are seen as unreliable witnesses. Attorney-General John Rau said South Australia was changing that:
"What is going to happen is that, to some extent, we are going to be able to rely on ... experts, who are independent people, who give an independent assessment of what that person is telling us and help the courts to understand what the person is trying to communicate...Some of this communication might be non-verbal, it might be behavioural, it might be expressed in a whole range of ways which, to the untrained eye, don't actually tell us anything...But to include a person who does have the experience and the expertise to be able, to objectively interpret that voice if you like and bring it to the court, I think it is a big step forward."
Upper House Dignity for Disability MLC Kelly Vincent was invited onto the floor of the Lower House to see the bill pass. She said people with a disability were considered more likely than other people to experience sexual and physical abuse at some time:
"Perpetrators of these crimes have known that they are more likely to get away with it, because that person doesn't have as many avenues to pursue justice in the court system...I think this will be an enormous step forward in closing those gaps."
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Sources:
Statutes Amendment (Vulnerable Witnesses) Bill 2015 as reproduced in TimeBase LawOne
