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1128066

registered interest
date	22/05/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Domestic Abuse
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 21 May (HL Deb, col 1863), what consideration they have given to providing (1) separate waiting facilities for the parties, and (2) facilities to enable the giving of evidence by screen or video link, for court cases relating to domestic abuse.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL15915
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>From context we have assumed the honourable member is asking about the family courts.</p><p> </p><p>(1) In family courts, vulnerable parties and witnesses may request the use of a separate entrance and waiting area. Where dedicated separate entrances or waiting areas are not available, court staff will make alternative arrangements wherever possible.</p><p> </p><p>(2) In the family court over 300 protective screens have been provided over the last two years to ensure that vulnerable parties and witnesses can be shielded from an alleged abuser in the courtroom. Video links may also be used either from a secure location within the court building or from a remote location. Use of these facilities must be approved by the Judge. Use of telephone hearings for without notice Family Law Act injunction hearings is being encouraged to avoid the need for victims of domestic abuse to attend court.</p><p> </p><p>We are determined that the family courts should never be used to further or perpetrate abuse. The Government announced on 21 May 2019 the establishment of an expert panel to gather evidence of how the family courts protect children and parents in cases of domestic abuse and other serious offences. Once formed, it is intended that the panel will report within three months.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 06/06/2019 15:23:08 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

767657

registered interest
date	09/10/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance prevents the disclosure of the address of a victim of domestic violence to their alleged perpetrator during court proceedings.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	106632
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2017 answer text <p>Courts regularly handle extremely sensitive cases and have a range of measures in place to maintain the confidentiality of participants’ details including victims of domestic abuse.</p><p>In the Criminal Courts, there is no requirement for a victim’s address to be provided in their written statement, therefore these courts do not need guidance to prevent disclosure.</p><p>The Family Courts follow guidance laid out in Standard Operating Procedures that requires all files with confidential addresses to be checked by a manager or another officer.</p><p>In the civil courts, there is no formal guidance, however where the address of the applicant or respondent is required, victims of domestic abuse are able to apply to have their safe address withheld and provide an alternative address.</p> answering member constituency Esher and Walton answering member printed Dominic Raab question first answered 17/10/2017 15:02:39 answering member 4007 label Biography information for Dominic Raab
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

767658

registered interest
date	09/10/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to limit the disclosure of addresses of victims of domestic violence to judges and magistrates in court proceedings.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	106631
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2018 answer text <p>The Government has no current plan to limit the disclosure of addresses of victims of domestic violence to judges and magistrates in court proceedings.</p><p> </p><p>There are a number of protections already available to parties in the civil and family courts, including measures to protect a ‘safe’ address by providing an alternative. In the criminal courts, victims are not automatically required to disclose their address either on court papers or in the court room.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 22/01/2018 19:48:46 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

755976

registered interest
date	04/09/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that changed names or the addresses of victims of domestic violence or abuse are not provided in court-related documents provided to the perpetrator of that violence or abuse.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	6911
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2017 answer text <p>Courts regularly handle extremely sensitive cases and have a range of measures in place to ensure the safety and security of victims including victims of domestic abuse. For some civil proceedings, individuals may request that their address details are not disclosed and this is something that the judge will consider on a case by case basis.</p><p>In family proceedings the courts have clear guidance on the processes operational staff should follow to make sure that confidentiality is maintained when parties addresses are required; for example, when the court needs to carry out safeguarding checks.</p><p>In criminal cases there is no requirement either for a witness’ address to be provided in their written statement, or for the witness to give their current name if that is different to the name by which they were known by at the time of the offence. There are additional measures that prosecutors can apply for such as witness anonymity orders under section 86 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 that allows the content of a witness’ statement to be redacted in such a way as to prevent disclosure of the witness’ identity, as permitted by section 87(4) of that Act.</p> answering member constituency Bracknell answering member printed Dr Phillip Lee question first answered 14/09/2017 15:22:18 answering member 3921 label Biography information for Dr Phillip Lee
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

755977

registered interest
date	04/09/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that victims of domestic violence or abuse and their alleged perpetrators shall both have legal representation to avoid direct contact in court proceedings.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	6912
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/10/2017 answer text <p>There are already measures in place to prevent the direct cross-examination of victims by the accused in criminal courts. We intend to legislate to give the family courts similar powers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bracknell answering member printed Dr Phillip Lee question first answered 09/10/2017 14:03:02 answering member 3921 label Biography information for Dr Phillip Lee
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

755978

registered interest
date	04/09/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he will take steps to allow victims of domestic violence or abuse to give evidence either by video link or to be recorded at a separate time to the cross-examination of the accused.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	6903
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2017 answer text <p>As part of Special Measures introduced under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 vulnerable and intimidated witnesses can give their evidence and be cross examined by video link remote from the court room or from another location away from the court building. Victims of domestic abuse have access to special measures if they are fearful or distressed. In such cases, they would fall into the category of an ‘intimidated’ witness.</p><p>We are rolling out pre-trial cross examination for child and vulnerable victims and witnesses in the Crown Court and testing this provision for certain eligible intimidated victims in 3 Crown Court centres this autumn.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Esher and Walton answering member printed Dominic Raab question first answered 12/09/2017 11:32:30 answering member 4007 label Biography information for Dominic Raab
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

755983

registered interest
date	04/09/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he plans to take to ensure that victims of domestic violence or abuse are not cross-examined by the alleged perpetrator in a criminal, civil or family court.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	6898
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2017 answer text <p>There are provisions within Sections 34 - 36 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 that gives a criminal court power to prohibit the accused from cross-examining a witness in person.</p><p>We are determined to improve the family justice response to domestic abuse and intend to legislate to give family courts the power to prevent perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims in person in family proceedings. We will consider how such measures might be applied in wider civil proceedings, taking account of lessons learnt from their implementation in the family courts.</p> answering member constituency Bracknell answering member printed Dr Phillip Lee question first answered 12/09/2017 15:30:00 answering member 3921 label Biography information for Dr Phillip Lee
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

671820

registered interest
date	11/01/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent perpetrators of domestic violence from cross-examining in person the victims of that domestic violence and to ensure that contact between those perpetrators and those victims is prevented while they are within court buildings.
tabling member constituency	Camberwell and Peckham
tabling member printed	Ms Harriet Harman
uin	59539
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2017 answer text <p>We are determined to improve the family justice response to vulnerable witnesses, and victims of domestic abuse in particular.</p><p> </p><p>Family judges have a range of powers to make sure difficult courtroom situations are handled sensitively for vulnerable witnesses, and we continue to work with the judiciary to consider what additional protections may be necessary.</p><p> </p><p>We are particularly concerned about the fact that unrepresented alleged perpetrators of abuse can directly cross-examine their alleged victims in family proceedings. The Lord Chancellor is urgently considering how to put an end to this practice.</p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Sir Oliver Heald question first answered 23/01/2017 11:04:20 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
tabling member	150 label Biography information for Ms Harriet Harman

541075

registered interest
date	20/07/2016
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which magistrates' and Crown courts have separate waiting rooms for victims of domestic violence and those accused of assaulting them.
tabling member constituency	Preston
tabling member printed	Mr Mark Hendrick
uin	43488
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2016 answer text <p>All Crown Court Centres have separate waiting facilities for victims and witnesses, including victims of domestic violence.</p><p>97% of magistrates’ courts have some kind of separate witness waiting facility. For those courts that do not have this facility, special arrangements will be put in place providing the court is notified in advance.</p><p>There are separate secure facilities for those accused that are held in custody. The accused who are remanded on bail, do not have designated waiting rooms.</p> answering member constituency Bracknell answering member printed Dr Phillip Lee question first answered 05/09/2016 16:44:40 answering member 3921 label Biography information for Dr Phillip Lee
tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick