Victims to be spared extra trauma in Victorian legal system overhaul

Victims and witnesses in family violence, sexual offence and stalking cases will no longer be allowed to be cross-examined before trial, under a major shake-up of Victoria’s legal system.

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes says the reforms will ease the burden of repeated testimony for victims and witnesses. Picture: Diego Fedele

Court committal hearings would be stripped back and cross-examination of some victims and witnesses banned in a major shake-up of the state’s legal system.

Under the changes, to be introduced to parliament on Tuesday, victims and witnesses in family violence, sexual offence and stalking cases would no longer be allowed to be cross-examined before trial, meaning they would only ever have to testify once.

Pre-trial evidence would also be limited in all other matters in a move the government said would allow only questioning that was essential to resolving matters before trial.

And adults accused of crimes would no longer need to be present in court for committal hearings, instead they would appear via videolink.

Committals are used to test the evidence in a case to determine whether it is strong enough to send an accused to trial in a higher court.

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said the new laws would save participants time and stress from dealing with lengthy pre-trial hearings.

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes. Picture: Diego Fedele

Other changes to be introduced in the Justice Legislation Amendment (Committals) Bill 2024 will increase the focus on avoiding trials altogether.

“Survivors of sexual offences, stalking and family violence deserve justice, not further trauma. These reforms will ease the burden of repeated testimony, helping them move through court proceedings and get on with their lives,” Ms Symes said.

“Committal proceedings have evolved over time and need updating – that’s why we’re modernising them by streamlining processes and removing the committal test.”

Other changes will allow homicide matters to be fast tracked to the Supreme Court.

The proposed changes follow a suite of recommendations made by the Victorian Law Reform Commission in 2020 following a probe into committals.

In it, the VLRC recommended committal hearings be scrapped entirely and replaced with a streamlined process.

The legal process has been described as more distressing for some victims than the crime itself.

Among a suite of sweeping recommendations, the VLRC called for the abolition of the committal test that requires magistrates to determine if accused people should stand trial.

“Despite efforts to improve their experience, many victims and witnesses continue to find their involvement in criminal proceedings unpleasant and stressful,” the report found.

“For victims and witnesses who have experienced trauma, involvement in the adversarial criminal justice system can be a particularly difficult and damaging experience.

“The criminal process may require them to relive traumatic events that they wish to leave behind and that trigger distress and anxiety.

“Some describe it as more distressing than the crime itself.”

The report found that although there was a sound reason for the test, it was often unnecessary.

The VLRC also called for Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions to take charge of more matters earlier, and for police to take a back seat in prosecuting indictable offences.

Each year, approximately 3000 criminal cases go through some form of committal proceeding in Victorian magistrates courts.