Special arrangements for protection

Under section 13A of the Evidence Act 1929 (SA) there are a range of special arrangements which may be made for the protection of vulnerable witness when giving evidence in criminal proceedings.

For the purposes of accessing these protections, a vulnerable witness includes a witness who is [s 4]:

The court must order special arrangements be made for a vulnerable witness if an application is made and the necessary facilities are readily available and practical and the arrangements can be made without prejudice to any other party [s 13A(1)].

The court may make a wide variety of orders such as that [s 13A(2)]:

There are some limitations and conditions to making of special arrangements set out further in section 13A of the Evidence Act 1929 (SA) [e.g. ss 13A(4)-(5c) and (11)].

In some circumstances an order may also be made for the evidence of a witness to be admitted in the form of an audio visual record, see Evidence through audio visual record below.

Child sexual offences

If an order has been made under section 13A in relation to a witness in the trial of a child sexual offence, the court may also give directions about the manner and duration of questioning, questions that may or may not be put to the witness, allocating questioning topics where there are multiple accused, the use of models, plans, body maps or similar aids to communicate questions and answers, not leading evidence that challenges the witness in cross-examination [s 13A(14)].

Under section 13C, in the case of a vulnerable witness who is the alleged victim of a child sexual offence, the court must order that an audio visual record be made of the witness’s evidence before the court (unless an order has already been made under section 12AB(2)(a) for a pre-trial special hearing or as set out above under 13A(2)(b) [s 13C(1)].