Case 20: Helping child victim/survivors of crime to give evidence

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The Director of Public Prosecutions raised children’s rights under the Charter to support seeking an extension of time to allow a child, who was the victim/survivor of sexual assault, to give evidence via audio-visual recording. This method of giving evidence is designed to reduce stress and trauma for the victim/survivor. The Court took the Charter into account in agreeing to the extension. The Court decided that the application of the Charter led, in part, to the conclusion that it was in the interests of justice to grant the extension. This issue has now been raised in a number of similar cases.

Source: Director of Public Prosecutions v Pottinger (County Court of Victoria, 2011) and Human Rights Law Centre, Advancing the rights of victim/survivors of crime using Victoria’s Human Rights Charter: Your
advocacy guide, 2018