Support for victims and witnesses

Providing more help and support for victims and witnesses whilst making offenders more accountable for their crimes is key to building a better criminal justice system, the Justice Secretary has said.

Ahead of the Bill to support victims and witnesses, the Scottish Government has published a consultation to hear views on what measures would have the most impact.

During the eight week consultation, interested groups will be encouraged to give their views on the consultation proposals, which include:

• Introducing a victim surcharge so that offenders pay towards the cost of supporting victims.
• Requiring the courts to consider compensation in every case where a victim has suffered injury, loss or distress.
• Creating an automatic right to special measures when giving evidence in court, such as testifying via live television links within courts, for victims in cases involving sexual offences and domestic abuse.
• Improving the way cases are managed so that victims and witnesses can have far greater confidence that, where they are required to give evidence, the case will go ahead on the day as planned.
• Creating a duty on relevant public agencies to set clear standards of service for victims and witnesses.
• Commissioning a feasibility study into how we can provide much better information for victims and the public about specific cases.