The modernisation of the Isle of Man’s criminal justice system aims to place even greater emphasis on the treatment of victims and witnesses.
The introduction of a Victims Code and changes to make the cross-examination of children and vulnerable people less stressful, are among the measures currently being considered.
The work is a key strand of the Criminal Justice Strategy, which is continuing to identify ways to improve processes, streamline administration and reduce the number of low-level offences appearing before the courts.
Driven forward by the Department of Home Affairs, the flagship initiative has achieved significant progress over the past 18 months including:
- A reduction in court duty advocate costs, thanks to work undertaken in conjunction with the Isle of Man Law Society
- The successful trialling of alternative approaches to sentencing, such as restorative justice
- Expected savings of £100,000 a year through the extended use of fixed penalty notices and online payment facilities for low-level driving offences
- The introduction of new technology to improve the management of cases and the time taken to get matters to court
- The progression of a strategy to reduce reoffending rates
- The development of an early intervention programme to reduce the number of people entering the criminal justice system
The Criminal Justice Strategy is also placing a renewed focus on victims and witnesses, in line with the Isle of Man Government’s national priority of protecting vulnerable people.
One proposal is the implementation of a Victims Code to ensure victims and witnesses are treated respectfully and to provide a greater understanding of the important role they play in bringing matters to court.
Consideration is also being given to legislative changes to allow the cross-examination of all witnesses under the age of 18, and those identified as vulnerable, to be pre-recorded. This could open the way for cross-examination to take place much sooner after the initial event and to be conducted in front of the defence, prosecutor and judiciary for later use at trial.
Minister Watterson, who has been working collaboratively with UK Victims Commissioner Baroness Newlove, said:
‘We want to put victims and witnesses at the very heart of these reforms. Pre-recording the cross-examination of witnesses would ensure they are not kept waiting while the wheels of justice turn. It would help them to move on and recover from the harm they have suffered without the worry of giving evidence in a courtroom hanging over them.’
The Minister says he has also been encouraged by the smooth introduction of endorseable fixed penalty notices for certain motoring offences.
The scheme came into effect on 1 April this year as part of the reforms aimed at reducing the number of low-level/high-volume driving offences dealt with by the Isle of Man Courts.
The Minister said:
‘Recorded crime in the Isle of Man is at its lowest level since the 1970s, which is a tremendous achievement and contributes greatly to our quality of life. However, the courts are still very busy and in certain circumstances it is taking a long time to deal with cases. Removing some of the lower-level offences from the courts, and allowing people to pay their fines online, will help to make the system more efficient and cost effective.’
He added:
‘While encouraging progress is being made in terms of improvements and cost savings, work still needs to be done to meet the ambitious political expectation of real structural reform in criminal justice highlighted by the Chief Minister last week. This will represent the next phase of the Criminal Justice Strategy.’
