Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Rules

3.  In Part 3 (Case management)—

(a) in rule 3.3 (The duty of the parties)—

(i) renumber paragraph (2)(g) as (2)(h),

(ii) at the end of paragraph (2)(f) delete “and”, and

(iii) after paragraph (2)(f) insert—

“(g) alerting the court to any potential need for a witness to be accompanied while giving evidence, and in that event―

(i) identifying a proposed companion,

(ii) naming that person, if possible, and

(iii) explaining why that person would be an appropriate companion for the witness, including the witness’ own views; and”; and

(b) in rule 3.8 (Case preparation and progression), for paragraph (6) substitute—

“(6) Facilitating the participation of any person includes―

(a) giving directions for someone to accompany a witness while the witness gives evidence, including directions about seating arrangements for that companion; and

(b) giving directions for the appropriate treatment and questioning of a witness or the defendant, especially where the court directs that such questioning is to be conducted through an intermediary.”