Witness Care Unit
The development of local, specialised Witness Care Units are an important element of the government's 'No Witness, No Justice' programme, which in turn forms part of the broader strategy for criminal justice reform to be achieved by 2008.
Without witnesses appearing at court a criminal trial will be delayed or could possibly even fail to proceed. In a worst case scenario, that could mean offenders not being brought to justice for the crimes they have committed. For the wider community, this could have major implications for their confidence in the criminal justice system to protect them and reduce fear of crime.
One of the key roles of the Witness Care Units is to assist witnesses (including victims) to overcome any possible barriers to their attendance in court. These can often be very practical issues, such as travelling difficulties or not having adequate childcare to cover the period when needed in court.
Witnesses have a single point of contact in the WCU and are provided with regular updates on the progress of the case, by their preferred means (e.g. by mobile phone, letter, etc). Staff undertake a full needs assessment to identify specific support requirements for each witness, such as childcare and transport problems for the day of trial. The Witness Care Officers will assist with tailored interventions to help solve problems. After the trial, the WCU informs the witness of the outcome of the case and thanks them for their involvement and valuable contribution to the justice system.
The first Witness Care Unit (WCU) in Cumbria became operational in March 2005. Based centrally in Kendal, development of the Unit was sponsored by the Cumbra Criminal Justice Board and brings together experienced staff from the police and Crown Prosecution Service. Initially, cases for the WCU were taken only from West Cumbria but, in line with the development plan, expansion of staffing in late 2005 allowed the Unit to begin taking over cases from the whole of Cumbria.
The WCU now has eight staff including the Unit Manager, and recent data indicates that they are currently dealing with over 1300 cases, involving almost 5500 witnesses in total. This number will grow further as the roll-out progresses with cases from around the county.
Advice about how the Witness Care Unit can help you can be found in the explanatory leaflet.