Friday, 20 February 2015 00:00
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A WITNESS protection bill is speeding its way to Parliament after the lapse of seven years since it was first introduced in June 2008. As Sri Lanka prepares to empower the law and progress to a period of reconciliation, its relevance cannot be overstated.
According to earlier statements made by former Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem, the bill seeks to ensure the credibility of evidence to be extracted from witnesses through video conferencing. When evidence is recorded from witnesses through video conferencing, there can be concerns about the credibility of such information. The witnesses can be influenced by someone in the background when evidence is being given through video conferencing from a different location.
The proposed law is expected address such issues and it will enable the authorities concerned to take measures to ensure the credulity of information to be extracted. Hakeem had also stressed that the bill would provide for a new methodology to facilitate witnesses in different contexts. Yet exact details were unclear in media reports.
It is unclear whether the bill makes provisions for witnesses to be protected by the State and given physical assistance if they testify in a crucial case. While this will bring hope to getting more convictions, more onus is placed on the impartiality of the Police and the judicial system for the new legislation to have significant impact.
All criminal justice systems have a duty to put in place procedures to provide measures for the protection of persons whose cooperation with the criminal justice system in an investigation or prosecution, puts them, or persons closely associated with them, at risk of serious physical or emotional harm. The UN believes such measures could include assistance before and during trial to cope with the psychological and practical obstacles of testifying, protective measures before, during and after hearing or trial for “at risk” witnesses, court procedures to ensure the witness’ safety while testifying and a covert witness protection program.
The challenges posed to states in providing assistance and protection measures to victims and witnesses of crime are compounded when such organised crimes are also transnational. Adequate witness protection measures may be in place in one country, but fail to protect them against threats present in others for lack of cooperation mechanisms. This transnational challenge highlights the need for a higher degree of international cooperation and can come into play if terrorism or war crimes allegations are brought to trial, which could well be the case in Sri Lanka.
Under the Organised Crime Convention, Governments should take appropriate measures within their means to provide effective protection as well as assistance to victims and witnesses of crime. Such measures may include inter alia establishing procedures to safeguard the physical integrity of people who give testimony in criminal proceedings from threats against their life and intimidation.
Protection and procedural measures gain even more importance when dealing with minors. Sri Lanka’s rampant child abuse statistics, for example, require stronger measures to protect victims. Large numbers of cases pending countrywide at courts require testimony that could well psychologically and otherwise damage the witness. Relocation in extreme cases will also be problematic given the smallness of the country and its strong social networks. All these considerations make the pending bill only a first, albeit momentous, step in truly promoting justice.
