Northern Territory Consolidated Acts Northern Territory Consolidated Acts(1) In this Part:
"audiovisual record" includes a recorded statement.
"authorised person "means any of the following:
(a) a police officer with the rank of constable or above;
(b) a member of the Australian Federal Police who is appointed as a special constable under the Police Administration Act ;
(c) a member of a police force of a State or another Territory who is appointed as a special constable under the Police Administration Act ;
(d) a person who is an authorized person under section 4(1) of the Community Welfare Act ;
(e) a person who is an authorised officer under section 304(1)(a) of the Care and Protection of Children Act ;
(f) a member of a police force of a State or another Territory with the rank of constable or above;
(g) a person prescribed by regulation.
"child" means a person who is under 18 years of age.
"examination" of a witness includes cross-examination and
re-examination.
"recorded statement" means an interview, recorded on video-tape or by other audiovisual means, in which an authorised person elicits from a vulnerable witness statements of fact which, if true, would be of relevance to legal proceedings.
"serious violence offence" means an offence against any of the following provisions of the Criminal Code that is punishable by imprisonment for 5 or more years:
(a) Part V, Division 2;
(b) Part VI, Divisions 3 to 6A;
(c) section 211 or 212;
(d) another provision prescribed by the Regulations.
"vulnerable witness" means:
(a) a witness who is a child;
(b) a witness who suffers from an intellectual disability;
(c) a witness who is the alleged victim of a sexual offence to which the proceedings relate; or
(d) a witness who is, in the opinion of the Court, under a special disability because of the circumstances of the case or the circumstances of the witness.
(2) Subject to subsection (2A) and section 21B, a vulnerable witness is entitled to give evidence using one or more of the following arrangements as chosen by the witness:
(a) that the evidence of the vulnerable witness be given at a place outside the courtroom and transmitted to the courtroom by means of closed circuit television where that facility is available;
(b) that a screen, partition or one-way glass be placed to obscure the witness's view of a party to whom the evidence relates but not so as to obstruct the view of the witness by the Judge and the jury (if any);
(c) that the vulnerable witness be accompanied by:
(i) a relative;
(ii) a friend; or
(iii) any other person who the vulnerable witness requests to accompany him or her and who the Court considers is in the circumstances appropriate to accompany the vulnerable witness,
for the purpose of providing the vulnerable witness with emotional support;
(d) that the Court be closed while evidence is being given by the vulnerable witness in the proceeding (including evidence given under cross-examination) and that no persons remain in or enter a room or place in which the Court is being held, or remain within the hearing of the Court, without its permission.
(2A) The Court may make an order that the vulnerable witness is not to give evidence using an arrangement under subsection (2) if satisfied that:
(a) it is not in the interests of justice for the witness's evidence to be given using that arrangement; or
(b) the urgency of the proceeding makes the use of that arrangement inappropriate.
(2B) In determining whether or not it is in the interests of justice to use an arrangement under subsection (2), the Court must have regard to the following matters:
(a) the need to minimise the harm that could be caused to the vulnerable witness by giving evidence;
(b) the interest in the vulnerable witness being able to give evidence effectively.
(2C) The Court must state its reasons for making an order under subsection (2A).
(3) Where a vulnerable witness is to give evidence using an arrangement under subsection (2)(a) or (b), the Judge must issue a warning to the jury (if any) to the effect that:
(a) the procedure is a routine practice of the Court;
(b) no adverse inference is to be drawn against the accused as a result of the use of the arrangement; and
(c) the evidence of the witness is not to be given any greater or lesser weight because of the use of the arrangement.
(4) If an arrangement under subsection (2)(c) is used, the person who accompanies the vulnerable witness is to be placed so he or she is visible to the Judge and the jury (if any).
(5) If an arrangement under subsection (2)(d) is used in a proceeding in which the defendant is or is apparently a child, nothing in subsection (2)(d) is to be taken to require the exclusion from the Court or the place where the evidence is being given of a person who is required or permitted under the Youth Justice Act to be present.
(6) If the Court is requested to determine whether a witness is a vulnerable witness, the witness is to be taken to be a vulnerable witness until the Court makes the determination.