What is a Section 28 Hearing?

Section 28 hearings were introduced by the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 and is referred to as one of many special measures afforded to vulnerable complainants. Other special measures include: 

• Giving evidence via a video link
• Giving evidence behind a screen
• Removal of wigs and gowns by the barristers 
• Intermediaries 
• Giving evidence in private

Special measures are not automatic an application must be made by the Crown Prosecution Service which is then responded to by the defence and ultimately decided upon by the court. 

If special measures are granted by way of a complainant giving their evidence via section 28 then a Ground Rules Hearing (GRH)will take place prior to the complainant giving their evidence, this is usually approximately one week before. In preparation for the GRH the judge will expect the defence advocate to prepare the questions that they propose to ask in advance and submit them to the Court for a decision to be made at the GRH about whether they are appropriate for the particular witness. Advocates will be expected to be familiar with the appropriate Advocates Gateway Toolkit. If there is an Intermediary they will be present at the GRH. This means that questions will be pre-planned and structured and will have been given the approval of the judge before the complainant is asked them. 

The judge will meet with the witness in the room where they will be giving their evidence from (this will not be the courtroom, but will be a room within the court building). The Crown Prosecution advocate will also have met the complainant, and in some circumstances the defence advocate will meet with the complainant too. The defendant will be present in the courtroom, and will usually be sat in the dock which is the usual place for the defendant to sit during proceedings. Questions will then be put to the complainant via a video link and this will be recorded. 

After the hearing the case will continue to trial, and your defence team will continue to prepare for this with the knowledge of the answers given by the complainant in cross examination. 

At trial the section 28 hearing will be played to the jury after the ABE interview has been played. The ABE interview is what the complainant would have provided to the police during the investigation stage and will be their account of the allegations. The trial will continue as normal and the defendant, if they choose to do so, will give their evidence. Any other witnesses will be heard live at trial.

As with everything, there are advantages and disadvantages to section 28 hearings. In our view more advantages come from this method of cross examination. One of the main advantages is that the jury will not see the complainant in person, and therefore the emotion from the complainant may have less of an impact on the jury. 

However, we do experience delays between s.28 hearings and the trial which can unintentionally compromise the defendant. It is well known that the courts are facing huge backlogs, and even priority cases are waiting many months sometimes years for the defendant to be given their opportunity to give evidence, some of who are facing long prison sentences if convicted. 

At Eventum Legal our lawyers deal every day with cases where section 28 hearings are required. It is important, as with any cross examination of a complainant in a case, that careful preparation is undertaken in readiness for the hearing. This means your lawyers must know your case inside out, we pride ourselves on our keen eye for detail, and leaving a no stone unturned approach. The key to a successful cross examination of a complainant is knowing your case and we can assure our client's that we invest our time in you, your case and all relevant materials so that our advocates can represent you to the highest standards. 

If you have been charged with an offence, or your case is heading to trial and you want to discuss what our approach to this would be contact us today for a free no obligation discussion. You can do this via our contact us page, what's app (07949630143), or via phone on 0161 706 0602.