Going to court and giving evidence
If there is a trial, you will probably have to give evidence. Your Victim Liaison Officer will keep you informed about when the trial is listed and when you will be needed.
Police might give you a subpoena to attend court. This is a legal document which tells you that you have to go to court to give evidence. You may be referred to as a witness.
If you are required to attend court as a witness, and you live far away from the court, you will be helped to attend. The DPP can arrange your flights and accommodation.
The prosecutor with your case will hold a pre-trial conference with you. They should give you information about:
- where you need to go
- when you need to be at court
- what you can expect
- what support you need.
They might want to talk to you about what you have said in your police statement. You can have a support person with you during the pre-trial conference, but it can’t be someone who is also a witness in your case.
The prosecutor will also talk to you about different ways you can be supported when you are giving evidence. This might include:
- having a support person be with you in court
- giving pre-recorded evidence before the trial takes place
- be able to be in a different room to the room that the defendant is in when you give your evidence
- having rest breaks
- be asked questions in a way that are easy to understand
- having an interpreter for a language other than English or Auslan
- having an audio loop or Auslan translator if you have hearing difficulties.
If you don’t have a support person like a family member or friend (who is not a witness in your case), there are also services that can help you during court. PACT is a government-funded organisation which provides court support to child and adult victims and witnesses.
The DPP lawyers have to ask the court for you to have some of these support options. To support the DPP lawyers’ request for some of the support measures, the lawyers may ask you for any material that you might have. This material would be provided to the court in support of the prosecutor’s request. The defence can make arguments about whether or not the support options should be allowed. The court will make a decision about what support options are okay. Your Victim Liaison Officer will keep you informed about what the court has decided about your requests for support.
At the pre-trial conference, the prosecutor will also talk to you about making a victim impact statement. You might have heard about a Victim Impact Statement before the pre-trial conference. A victim impact statement tells the court how you have been harmed by what has happened to you. The prosecutor might ask you to think about whether you would like to prepare a victim impact statement ahead of the trial and have it ready for a sentence if the defendant is found guilty. This is because a sentence can sometimes happen straight after trial. It is your right to be able to give the court a victim impact statement. More information about making a victim impact statement can be found here.