This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Help for victims VIA new service
14/06/2002
A new information and advice service for victims of crime in Glasgow was formally launched today.
The opening of the Glasgow office of Victim Information and Advice (VIA) represents the most significant practical development in assisting victims of crime in Scotland for over 20 years, Lord Advocate Colin Boyd said.
Previously known as the victim liaison office, VIA is the dedicated victim information and advice service within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Offices have already been established at Aberdeen, Hamilton and Kilmarnock. Dundee and Edinburgh VIAs will be operational next month.
VIA is intended to provide a 'way through' the criminal justice process for victims, bereaved relatives and vulnerable witnesses.
It aims to provide information about the criminal justice process in general and to keep individuals informed about the progress of the case that affects them. It will also advise on and facilitate referrals to other agencies for specialist support and counselling as required.
The Lord Advocate added:
"I have had a commitment to developing an information and advice service for a number of years. A feasibility study commissioned in 1999 gave us some useful guidance on how to proceed and this was followed by the establishment of two pilot projects in November 2000 and May 2001 in Aberdeen and Hamilton.
"The work of VIA is a key element of the Scottish Strategy for Victims, one of whose principal aims is to provide victims with information and advice. VIA is a division of the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service focussing on the task of informing and advising victims.
"We want all our staff to be victim-aware and to treat victims, bereaved relatives and witnesses with courtesy and compassion. As a prosecution service we also have to consider other interests, including the rights of the accused and what will be in the public interest. But our aim is always to respect the dignity of all the people with whom we deal and to recognise their diversity and different needs for information and advice".
First Minister Jack McConnell has given his support to the new service. He said:
"The court process can be confusing and even scarey for victims, their friends and witnesses. I believe it is important that we do everything we can to ease the pressure on people who are already suffering.
"To do this, our criminal justice system must provide details about the legal process, information about the progress of cases and advice about support services. That's what the Victim Information and Advice service has been set up to do and I hope it will go some way towards helping victims find their way through the criminal justice maze."
The Lord Advocate also introduced the new VIA director Ms Sue Moody who took up her post in the Spring and launched the service's new 'VIA' identity.
Mr Boyd stressed the important role that VIA will play in key reforms for victims of crime in Scotland. He said:
"The pace of change in relation to victims since the Scottish Strategy has been swift and we are in a period of intense development and change just now. Many of the key reforms in criminal justice concern victims, such as the participation of victims in criminal justice through the victim statement scheme.
"VIA has an important role to play alongside and in partnership with these reforms. I am confident that it is well placed to do so and look forward to a time when victims, bereaved relatives and vulnerable witnesses throughout Scotland will be receiving information and advice from VIA".
Specially trained staff from a variety of related backgrounds, ranging from social workers to ex-police officers, ensure a well informed, sensitive and individual approach is taken with victims.
VIA provides information only on cases reported to the Procurator Fiscal. Victims are entitled to certain information about their case including:
- A right to a general explanation of the criminal justice system
- A right to be advised, if they wish, about key decisions affecting the case in which they have an interest
- A right to know when court proceedings will occur
- A right to know how the court process is likely to operate in their case
- A right to know when and to be present when the offender is sentenced
VIA works closely with other statutory agencies (the police, Scottish Courts Service) and also with voluntary organisations (such as Witness Services, Women's Aid, Victim Support).
The service is provided to individual victims or to groups of individual victims. VIA currently deals with the following categories:
- Victims in all serious cases, where the nature of the charge(s) is indicative of solemn proceedings
- The next of kin in cases involving deaths where criminal proceedings are possible and death cases where a Fatal Accident Inquiry is to be held
- The next of kin in all cases where the Procurator Fiscal invites them to discuss the circumstances of the death
- Victims in cases of domestic abuse
- Victims in cases with a racial aggravation and cases where it is known to the Procurator Fiscal that the victim perceives the offence to be racially motivated
- Cases involving child witnesses
- Victims in cases involving sexual offences
- Any other victim, next of kin or witness where the Procurator Fiscal and the VIA Officer agree that because of particular vulnerability the provision of services would be beneficial
VIA staff will encourage victims to make informed choices about the information they wish to have and the support they feel they require. Every effort will be made to give victims autonomy and responsibility in taking such decisions. The service is designed to support and guide victims and their carers through the criminal justice process and to attempt to increase their satisfaction with and understanding of that experience.
VIA aims to communicate information:
- accurately
- sensitively
- consistently
- promptly
- pro-actively
- taking account of individual need
- acknowledging individual diversity
Enquiries about VIA can be made through the VIA Headquarters:
National VIA Headquarters
c/o Procurator Fiscal's Office
82 Tay Street
Perth
DX PE31
Tel: 01738 631710
Fax: 01738 638045
E-mail: Sue.Moody@copfs.gsi.gov.uk
E-mail: Elaine.Hales@copfs.gsi.gov.uk
Permanent Address from late July 2002 will be:
National VIA Headquarters
Caledonian House
Greenmarket
Dundee