What must a file show before the protective measures apply to a victim or reporter, and which of them still require a fear of retaliation?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read the court's hearing record or the investigative agency's questioning record to see whether the person was examined as a witness or investigated, and in what capacity — victim, or the person who reported the crime. Where one of the two excluded measures is sought, we look for papers showing a risk of retaliation, such as records of prior threats or of earlier reports.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision at its word: where a court or an investigative agency questions a victim of a sexual offence crime, or a person whose report of such a crime includes a complaint or an accusation, as a witness, or investigates that person, the court or agency applies the specified provisions of the Act on the Protection of Persons Who Report Certain Crimes mutatis mutandis, and for most of those measures no fear of retaliation need be shown.
Another reading starts from the exclusion: the provision says the retaliation-fear condition is dropped 'except' for the two measures it names, so for those two measures the file must still show a fear of retaliation, and the provision itself does not say how that fear is to be documented or who decides it.
Your judgment
If the record does not say whether the person was questioned as a witness or investigated, what other paper in the file could show which of the two triggers applied?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We revisit this card if the provision is amended to change which measures require a fear of retaliation, or if a court decision settles how that fear must be shown in the file.