Scottish Government

MAIN FINDINGS

• The Witness Service is available in all Sheriff Courts. It is managed by 32 court-based staff, working from 23 offices, and organising about 300 volunteers at any one time
• Recruitment of volunteers is not seen as a problem. All applicants are assessed and rigorously trained, and undergo a 'probationary' period before being allowed to work independently. Volunteers value the training and subsequent support they receive. Refresher training is provided for experienced volunteers.
• The Witness Service has some contact with virtually all witnesses who attend Sheriff Courts. In the 6-month period of the evaluation over 30,000 contacts were recorded nationally, 29 per cent of which were in the 6 courts covered by the evaluation. This figure underestimates the true volume of work, since some of the briefest contacts are not recorded.
• The great majority of interactions between the Witness Service volunteers and witnesses are brief (recorded as lasting for less than 30 minutes). About 12 per cent of witnesses take up the offer of a visit to the courtroom before the trial. Very few take up the offer of the presence of a volunteer in court, and about 5 per cent of witnesses are recorded as having been referred to another agency - usually within the criminal justice system - after the trial.
• Brief, friendly contacts that provide basic information, advice and reassurance are what most witnesses want, rather than emotional support. The fact that the Witness Service is provided by volunteers is appreciated.
• Many witnesses find the experience of attending court frustrating and uncomfortable. Their main complaints relate to the length of time they have to wait, and to the uncertainty and lack of information about when or whether the hearing will begin.
• The work of the Witness Service is valued by the staff of other agencies. It is seen as necessary, efficient, discreet, unobtrusive and impartial. Initial worries about possible contamination of evidence have proved unjustified. Relationships with Victim Information and Advice are being established on a mutually agreeable basis.
• The extension of the Witness Service to the High Court is seen as a logical next step. The skills required of volunteers in the High Court are seen as essentially the same as those needed for effective work in Sheriff Courts. It is likely, however, that a higher proportion of witnesses in the High Court will require longer contact with the Service because of the greater seriousness and complexity of High Court cases.

The evaluation

The evaluation was conducted from November 2002 - April 2003. It covered the Sheriff Courts in Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Kirkcaldy, Linlithgow, Alloa and Oban. Interviews were held with Witness Service staff, Sheriffs and staff of other criminal justice agencies, 36 volunteers, and 111 witnesses. The delivery of the service was observed at first hand.

The work of the Witness Service

The Service depends on its volunteers, who are usually recruited through the local press. Except in the smallest courts, there has been no difficulty in recruiting adequate numbers of suitable people. About 75 per cent are women. Applicants are rigorously trained and their suitability for the work is assessed. After training they 'shadow' an experienced volunteer until they, and the coordinator, both feel that they are ready to work independently. Volunteers generally enjoy their work and think it is important and valued by witnesses. They welcome continued monitoring by the coordinators and opportunities for in-service training. The Service is efficiently managed, with a commitment to high standards of work, so even in small courts without a coordinator on site the work of the volunteers is carefully overseen.

Over 30,000 'contacts' with witnesses were recorded nationally during the period of the evaluation, 29 per cent of them from the 6 courts covered by the evaluation. Most of these contacts were brief (under 30 minutes), though the proportion of brief contacts varied from 90 per cent in Glasgow to just over 50 per cent in Alloa. Most contacts recorded as lasting for over 4 hours were from Kilmarnock, reflecting the fact that 16 per cent of contacts there were in connection with High Court appearances. From observation and interviews with witnesses, it is clear that the Service has some contact with virtually all witnesses in Sheriff Courts.

Typically the contact involves the provision of basic information (where the courtroom is, where to wait, how to claim expenses, and the like). There is evidence from this and other studies that this is exactly the kind of service most witnesses want and value. In any case, the physical circumstances in which the Witness Service has to work would make more intensive or personal communication with witnesses difficult.

About 12 per cent of witnesses take up the offer of a visit to the courtroom before the trial, and those who do find it useful. A much smaller proportion ask for a volunteer to sit in the court during the trial, and the value of this service is not clear; while in court, the volunteer is not available to assist other witnesses. It is also unusual for witnesses to be referred to other agencies for post-trial support; when referrals are recorded, they tend to be to criminal justice rather than to welfare agencies. The great bulk of the Service's work, then, consists of giving basic advice, information and friendly reassurance in the court on the day for which the hearing is scheduled.

In Kilmarnock and other courts where the High Court sits on circuit, the Witness Service is in practice already providing support to witnesses in the High Court. Extra training is being provided for volunteers who will work in the High Court when the Service is formally extended in the summer of 2003, but the prevailing view is that the skills and knowledge needed for High Court work are essentially the same as those required in the Sheriff Court. It is likely, however, that a higher proportion of High Court witnesses will require more extended contact and more emotional support.

The views of service users

Most of the witnesses interviewed said that they had not known of the Witness Service until approached by a volunteer. They welcomed the presence of the Service and found the volunteers friendly and helpful, in a setting in which it was easy to feel that no-one else was interested in them. The fact that the Service is provided on a voluntary basis was appreciated, and in general the basic information service that is the staple of the work was all that witnesses wanted. It appeared, however, that victims tended to have longer contacts with the Service than other witnesses. But many witnesses were far from happy about the overall experience of attending court. Their main complaints were about lack of information and consequent uncertainty, accompanied in just under 30 per cent of cases by anxiety. Witnesses also complained of inadequate and uncomfortable facilities and of having to wait for long periods without any certainty that the case would eventually be heard. While few were positively fearful about the possible consequences of being willing to give evidence, the proportion who are fearful may well be greater in the High Court, where average waiting times are also likely to be longer.

The views of other agencies

Of the 30 criminal justice personnel interviewed for the evaluation, only one was sceptical about the need for a dedicated Witness Service. The rest saw it as a valuable resource, a service no-one else had the time, or the inclination, to provide. The worries that some staff had when the Service was first introduced, about contamination of evidence, had proved groundless. The Witness Service was seen as efficient, accessible, discreet and appropriately unobtrusive. Not all interviewees were well informed about the Service. In part, this may be a reflection of its nature: its quiet, unassuming presence is part of what is thought valuable about it. Staff of Victim Information and Advice (VIA) did not foresee problems of demarcation between their responsibilities and those of Witness Support.

Conclusions

In the three years since it was announced that the Witness Service was to be extended to all Sheriff Courts, (after being successfully piloted in 3 courts (Lobley and Smith, 1998), the Service has established itself as an important resource for witnesses and indeed for the court system as a whole.

The Service is well organised and committed to the maintenance of high standards of work. It depends on volunteers who work with the support and oversight of paid coordinators. This arrangement appears to work well: selection and training of volunteers is rigorous, and suitable volunteers are recruited and retained. They feel adequately supported, view their work as important, and generally find it rewarding.

The Witness Service has some contact with almost all witnesses in Sheriff Courts. Most of this contact is brief and amounts to no more than the giving of basic information and advice. But there are strong indications that this is precisely what most witnesses find most helpful. In a setting characterised for witnesses by long and tedious waiting in conditions of some discomfort, and by uncertainty, lack of information and a perceived lack of attention to their needs, the friendly, approachable presence of the Witness Service is highly valued. Witnesses often feel that the Witness Service volunteers are the only people in the court who take time to attend to them, and the views of the staff of other agencies tend to support this perception. The Witness Service cannot remove the factors that make being a witness stressful and difficult, but it can and does mitigate their negative impact. Without it, more witnesses might find the experience so unpleasant as to be unwilling to give evidence again.

The Bonomy Review, of practice and procedure in the High Court (2002) comments on many of the issues raised in this research and seeks to improve victims and witnesses' experience of the court process. It also raised the possibility of electronic monitoring or tagging of reluctant witnesses. Another possibility, suggested by this evaluation, is that once accused persons have appeared in court they might be fitted with a 'passive' tag, of the kind used, for example, to prevent the theft of books from libraries. This would reduce the risk of their disappearing from the court building during the day, and could regulate their access to parts of the building, for example the waiting area for Crown witnesses. One source of frustration and disillusionment for witnesses could thus be removed.

The extension of the Witness Service to the High Court was seen by all parties interviewed for the evaluation as desirable and feasible. The Service already has volunteers with the necessary skills and experience, but is undertaking further training before they formally begin work in the High Court. The work of the Witness Service in the High Court is likely to differ not in kind but in complexity from its work in Sheriff Courts, and therefore to have implications for resources, such as the ratio of volunteers to witnesses.

References

Bonomy, Lord (2002) Improving Practice: The 2002 Review of the Practices and Procedure of the High Court of Justiciary, Edinburgh, Scottish Executive.
Lobley, D. and Smith, D. (1998) Victim Witness Support in Scotland: An Evaluation of Three Pilot Projects, Edinburgh, The Scottish Office.