Why special courts for vulnerable witnesses?

Judicial systems are preoccupied with the presumption of innocence of accused persons. The needs and interests of witnesses are generally overlooked even though they are considered the eyes and ears of the courts. The situation is worse if the witness is a victim of sexual violence. What is the impact of testifying in court by a victim of sexual violence? Does it have any effect?

It is important to remember that a vulnerable witness may be re-traumatized during the judicial process. So, the person needs to be protected so that they are not re-traumatized. Why should the person not be allowed to be re-traumatized? Because re-trauma means that the person re-lives the experience of violence. So, it affects them psychologically. It causes them extreme anxiety, it may make them numb, it may make them not remember things accurately. What might cause re-traumatization? Any reminders that the person might get of the past when they were traumatized through the cues in the judicial process, and these cues could be simple. These cues could be the voice of the alleged perpetrator, the color of the shirt of the alleged perpetrator, the smells around the process, the way the questions are asked, the person might be pushed back into the same experience of trauma and they might re-live the trauma as if it was happening to them just right then during the judicial process.

Therefore, it is not helpful for the judicial process to re-traumatize somebody. The very fact of re-traumatization means that the person is being harmed and it may cause disability. It also causes a lack of substantive equality in the process because if the person is compromised because of the anxiety, because of their numbness, because of their act of seeing the memory, the judicial process itself is compromised because it is not equal in the same way. So, the access to justice becomes an issue. Re-traumatization is not only for preventing psychological disturbance to the vulnerable witness, it is for ensuring access to justice.

Transposing any person to a strange environment and expecting them to behave normally is like expecting the near impossible. This is more so in the case of vulnerable witnesses exposed to a court room environment. Legally trained persons are also inhibited by the black and white formal atmosphere of a court room complex. Presence of so many strangers inhibits witnesses from frankly deposing about their horrific experiences. The existing procedure recognized by law includes in-camera trials, particularly for safeguarding the witnesses.
Imposing architecture, hierarchial courtroom structure and formal proceedings can create a daunting atmosphere for witnesses/victims who are unfamiliar with legal terminology or procedure. The necessity for vulnerable witness to deliver oral evidence in a live court room setting can weaken their resilience and undermine the credibility.

Keeping this in view, it is important that such court rooms are established which are different from the existing court rooms and which give a comfortable and friendly environment to the witnesses/victims of sexual offences so that they can record their evidence without keeping a direct eye-contact with the accused.

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