Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995

Yn ddilys o 28/03/2011

[F1 271N Witness anonymity orders S

(1) A court may make an order requiring such specified measures to be taken in relation to a witness in criminal proceedings as the court considers appropriate to ensure that the identity of the witness is not disclosed in or in connection with the proceedings.

(2) The court may make such an order only on an application made in accordance with sections 271P and 271Q, if satisfied of the conditions set out in section 271R having considered the matters set out in section 271S.

(3) The kinds of measures that may be required to be taken in relation to a witness include in particular measures for securing one or more of the matters mentioned in subsection (4).

(4) Those matters are—

(a) that the witness's name and other identifying details may be—

(i) withheld,

(ii) removed from materials disclosed to any party to the proceedings,

(b) that the witness may use a pseudonym,

(c) that the witness is not asked questions of any specified description that might lead to the identification of the witness,

(d) that the witness is screened to any specified extent,

(e) that the witness's voice is subjected to modulation to any specified extent.

(5) Nothing in this section authorises the court to require—

(a) the witness to be screened to such an extent that the witness cannot be seen by the judge or the jury,

(b) the witness's voice to be modulated to such an extent that the witness's natural voice cannot be heard by the judge or the jury.

(6) An order made under this section is referred to in this Act as a “witness anonymity order”.

(7) In this section “specified” means specified in the order concerned.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Ss. 271N-271Z and cross-heading inserted (prosp. with application in accordance with s. 90(3) of the amending Act) by Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 (asp 13), ss. 90(1), 206(1) (with s. 90(4))