Who is covered by these Guidelines?
Who is covered by these guidelines?
In this section
- Overview
- Child witnesses
- Parents, families, whānau
- Government agencies
- New Zealand Police
- Child, Youth and Family
- Ministry of Justice
- Prosecution
- Youth justice
Overview of agency responsibilities throughout the criminal justice process (click on image to enlarge)
* Police officer in charge of the case / witness
NB This diagram does not reflect the youth justice process.
Child witnesses
In these Guidelines, “child witness” means any child aged under 18 who provides evidence for criminal proceedings for the prosecution. While child witnesses may also be called by the defence, defence counsel are not bound by these guidelines and different processes will be followed.
This applies whether the criminal proceedings are dealt with in a District or High Court.
These Guidelines apply to child witnesses who are:
- complainants where either the child, or someone on their behalf has made a complaint to Police about a criminal offence against them.
- witnesses who are testifying for the prosecution about what they know about a crime but are not the complainant.
If the child witness is also a victim of crime, he or she also has rights under the Victims’ Rights Act 2002.
The Guidelines do not cover the support and intervention offered to a child or young person who is alleged to have committed an offence.
Parents, families, whānau
In these Guidelines, the term “family/whānau” is a broad term used to describe any of the child’s living arrangements and any wider whānau members who are actively involved in supporting the child.
Also, under the Victims’ Rights Act 2002, when a child is a victim of crime, their parent or legal guardian are also considered a victim of crime and are entitled to rights and services as described in the Act.
Government agencies
While the head of each government agency is ultimately responsible for their agency’s role in managing child witnesses, there are some roles within the agencies that manage the day-to-day approach to child witnesses.
New Zealand Police
The Police lead in dealing with a child witness will be one of the following:
- The Police Officer in Charge of the case
- The Police Officer in Charge of Witnesses
- A specialist Child Protection Team will manage the case, where a case of child abuse has been reported.
Note that as the Police OC could be either Case or Witnesses, simply “Police OC” is used throughout the Guidelines.
The Police role is to investigate the crime, and where there is enough evidence, arrest the offender and prepare a case to be presented in court.
Child, Youth and Family
Child, Youth and Family’s role is to address any care and protection concerns for the child or young person involved by assessing their needs and , in conjunction with the child and their whānau, developing plans for that child’s protection and support. The Police will retain the lead role in dealing with a child witness.
Child, Youth and Family has an additional parental role with children who are in the care of the Chief Executive, under the Children, Young Persons, and their Families Act 1989, and must ensure that their needs are being met.
In a complaint of serious child abuse, Police and Child, Youth and Family work together to plan the investigation and interventions and monitor the case.
Ministry of Justice
There may be several different Ministry of Justice staff working with a child witness at different points in the process:
- A victim advisor (once charges have been filed in court). As well as providing general Court Services for Victims, the victim advisor is responsible for delivering the Court Education for Young Witnesses to the child.
- Court Services for Victims are only available to victims of crimes where the crime is being handled in a District or High Court.
- Court Education for Young Witnesses is available to all child witnesses who are providing evidence in a District or High Court whether or not they are victims of the crime.
- The court registrar (or their staff) who is responsible for scheduling cases.
Prosecution
Depending on the seriousness and complexity of the case, the prosecutor in a criminal case will either be:
- A Police prosecutor from New Zealand Police or
- A Crown prosecutor contracted through Crown Law.
Youth Justice
If the crime was committed by a child or young person, the process of the case is different as it goes through the youth justice process.
In most cases this will involve a family group conference. If the young person is a victim of the crime, they will be invited to the conference along with their support person to have a say in how the young person will be dealt with. They will not give evidence. The Youth Justice Coordinator, who works for Child, Youth and Family, will make all the arrangements for a family group conference; including ensuring the victim knows when and where the conference will be held.
Child witnesses may be called to give evidence in defended cases proceeding through the Youth Court. In these cases the Police OC will provide information and support.
Court Services for Victims and Court education for young witnesses are not currently available in the Youth Court.
