When may the court examine a victim-witness through a video relay device, and whose views must it hear before doing so?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read the charging papers to see which offence under the Special Act on Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes is charged, the paper designating the victim as a witness, and any minute recording the views the prosecutor and the accused or defence counsel gave on relay examination.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading gathers every condition the provision attaches: where the witness is the victim of a crime within the range of items the provision names in the Act's definition of sexual violence offences, the court may examine that victim through a video or similar relay, and it does so having heard the views of the prosecutor and of the accused or defence counsel.
Another reading notes what the provision leaves open: it says the court 'may' use relay examination and gives the victim no stated right to demand it, and the procedure and method are left to Supreme Court Rules, which the provision itself does not describe.
Your judgment
If the prosecutor and defence counsel give opposing views on relay examination, what in the file bears on how the court uses the choice the provision gives it?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to cover other offences or to let the victim apply for relay examination, or if new Supreme Court Rules change the procedure or method.