Special Measures for Vulnerable Witnesses: Use, Effectiveness, and Improvement

特别措施的使用（即，1999年《青年司法和刑事证据法》提出的支持弱势证人出庭作证的规定最近急剧增加。采用特别措施的最佳做法，例如通过法庭外的电视直播连线提供证据（第24节），在审判前预先录制询问本方证人（第27节）和交叉询问（第28节），以及使用中间人（即，在整个法律的过程中，促进证人和从业者之间交流的中立专家[通常是言语和语言治疗师]是令人难以置信的有希望的法律的干预。然而，特别措施的使用没有受到集中监测，而且这些措施在支助易受伤害证人方面的效力没有得到大规模的定量或系统评估。实际上，关于特别措施有效性的现有结论（主要是有效性有限的阶段性实验）好坏参半，而且由于担心陪审员无法适当评估证人的可信度，被告的权利得不到充分保护，因此在执行特别措施方面仍存在相当大的阻力。因此，拟议的研究旨在调查目前对弱势证人，特别是儿童使用的特别措施的使用情况和有效性，并确定如何通过采用多种方法和心理学方法进行改进。第一阶段涉及调查从业人员（即，此外，还向所有人（包括法官、律师、中间人、警察）介绍了他们对特别措施的看法和经验，以及他们对可以改进之处的看法。第二阶段是实地研究，将进行系统的文字记录分析，从第一次评估开始，通过法证面谈和（或）法庭询问，调查中间人参与弱势证人的使用情况和有效性。将对访谈者的问题和儿童的回答进行分析，并与没有获得中介参与的类似弱势儿童对照组进行比较。最后阶段是一系列模拟法庭研究，将测试特别措施的基本生理假设（例如，降低陪审员的情绪唤起），以及当前与特别措施相关的一些实际问题（例如，（2）降低陪审员的注意力，这可能会影响决策。这些研究还试图测试技术操作的有效性（例如，更大的屏幕，更好的音频）来对抗生理和实际问题（例如，以增加陪审员的情绪唤起/注意力）。总体而言，如果按照最佳实践使用，预计特别措施将促进儿童与警察/律师之间的沟通，但外部因素（例如，对程序的态度、不遵守最佳做法标准）将使特别措施无法完全发挥效力。因此，该项目进一步寻求从理论上理解法律的从业人员在处理易受伤害证人时可以继续制定和实施心理知情的最佳做法办法的过程。由于这项研究，关于如何最大限度地提高特别措施效力的循证指导可用于推动随后的从业人员培训做法，并为法律的政策提供信息。从业人员、法律的专家和世界领先的学者将参与项目的所有阶段，主要是通过参加咨询委员会、数据收集方法和传播活动。这种对项目解释的合作参与不仅将丰富研究，而且将确保该提案对广泛的国际政策和做法产生有意义的重要影响。

The use of special measures (i.e., provisions introduced by the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act, 1999) to support vulnerable witnesses giving evidence in court has recently increased dramatically. Best-practice use of special measures, such as giving evidence via a TV live- link from outside the court (S.24), pre-recording of examination-in-chief (S.27) and cross-examination (S.28) before trial, and using intermediaries (i.e., neutral specialists [often speech and language therapists] that facilitate communication between witnesses and practitioners, S.29) throughout the legal process are incredibly promising legal interventions. However, the use of special measures is not centrally monitored and their effectiveness in supporting vulnerable witnesses has not been quantitatively nor systematically assessed on a large scale. Indeed, existing findings (primarily staged experiments with limited validity) on the effectiveness of special measures are mixed, and there remains considerable resistance to their implementation due to concerns that jurors will not be able to properly evaluate witnesses' credibility and defendants' rights will not be adequately protected. The proposed research is therefore designed to investigate the use and effectiveness of current special measures used with vulnerable witnesses, specifically children, as well as to identify how improvements can be made, by adopting a multi-method, psychologically-informed approach. The first phase involves surveying practitioners (i.e., judges, lawyers, intermediaries, police) about their beliefs of and experiences with special measures, as well as their opinions about where improvements could be made. The second phase is field research, wherein systematic transcript analyses will take place, investigating the use and effectiveness of intermediary involvement with vulnerable witnesses from first assessments, through forensic interviews and/or courtroom questioning. Interviewers' questions and children's responses will be analysed and compared with control groups of similarly vulnerable children who were not afforded intermediary involvement. The final phase is a series of mock courtroom studies that will test both underlying physiological assumptions of special measures (e.g., lowered juror emotional arousal), as well as some of the current practical concerns associated with special measures (e.g., lowered juror attentiveness) that may affect decision-making. These studies also seek to test the effectiveness of technological manipulations (e.g., larger screens, better audio) to combat physiological and practical concerns (e.g., to increase juror emotional arousal/attentiveness). Overall, it is expected that special measures will facilitate communication between children and police/lawyers when used in line with best-practice, but that extraneous factors (e.g., attitudes towards procedures, failure to adhere to best-practice standards) will prevent special measures from being wholly effective. As such, this project further seeks to develop a theoretical understanding of the processes through which legal practitioners can continue to develop and implement psychologically informed best-practice approaches when dealing with vulnerable witnesses. As a result of this research, evidence-based guidance on how to maximise the effectiveness of special measures can be used to advance subsequent practitioner training practices and inform legal policy. Practitioners, legal experts, and world-leading academics will be involved in all phases of the project, primarily through participation on the advisory board, data collection methods, and dissemination activities. This collaborative participation in the projects' interpretation will not only enrich the research, but will ensure that the proposal will have meaningful and important effects on wide-reaching international policies and practices.