JAMAICA’s children may, by year end, be able to give testimony in court via live video links, according to Canute Brown, a consultant in the Ministry of Justice.

He said such a move would reduce the trauma associated with testifying in person.

“It is not easy to have them come into a witness box, and testify about their ordeal in the presence of the person who perpetrated the act. It is difficult,” he told JIS News.

Brown did not elaborate on the plan to have the system in place by December, but said rape victims could be next in line to benefit from the impending development.

“We have young vulnerable witnesses and we also have witnesses who are intimidated, and hence would not come forward to testify. But I think as a first step, we could deal with the children, and then move on to adults, like the victims of rape,” he continued.

He pointed out that England and other Commonwealth countries had sought to solve this problem by making elaborate provisions in their laws.

“I don’t see why we can’t,” Brown remarked.

Explaining how the new system would operate, Brown said that the prosecutor or defence would be able to question the victim, as the entire proceeding would be live. The victims, for their part, could be participating from any location, including a safe house.

He noted that testifying via video link was not new, but had only been previously used in civil, rather than criminal cases.