Barnardo's outlines blueprint for child-friendly court system

The children's charity is urging the Rt Hon Sir John Thomas, who began his tenure as head of the judiciary in England and Wales on Tuesday, to introduce a set of four measures that the charity believes will improve the confidence of vulnerable children called to give evidence in legal hearings.

The charity wants all judges who preside over child sex abuse or exploitation cases to receive training in child protection and safeguarding, and for courts to hold "ground-rules hearings" before every case that involves young victims of sexual abuse to establish how child witnesses will be treated by the court.

Barnardo’s wants judges who sit on child sex cases to receive specialist training on the nature of child sexual exploitation and the impact the offence has on the behaviour of victims. The charity says this will equip them with the knowledge required to ensure that the defence does not use the child’s behaviour to discredit their evidence during cross-examination.

The charity also wants a set of special safeguarding measures to be used as a matter of course in all trials with child witnesses, with children being allowed to decide which of these measures they want implemented at any point before and during the trial.

Alison Worlsey, the charity’s deputy director, said: “It takes immense bravery for sexually exploited children to seek to prosecute their abusers and convictions play a vital role in enshrining confidence in the legal system.

“If we are to turn the tide in the fight against these awful crimes it is vital that victims feel they will be taken seriously and dealt with sensitively at all levels of the justice system.

“We urge the new Lord Chief Justice to prioritise reforms that will create a legal system that places justice for sexually exploited children at its very heart.”