contained amendments which would permit such evidence to be recorded and thus available to be used in any subsequent proceedings, for example, following a successful appeal against conviction. This is a significant reform, reflecting provisions in other jurisdictions, and will ensure victims in such matters will not have to give evidence more than once.

It is to be hoped that these measures will come before the new Assembly for debate as soon as possible.

Indeed, further reforms should be considered. I commented in my report last year that the provisions permitting victims in family violence assault matters to give evidence by CCTV was having a positive impact in family violence prosecutions. It remains the case that victims of breaches of protection orders and damage property offences are not permitted to give evidence remotely. Rather they must be in the court room with the alleged offender. Consideration should be given to including those offences in the range of offences where CCTV is available.

In the area of general prosecutions, victims of serious violent crimes can give their evidence using CCTV and this has likewise had a positive impact on these prosecutions. However it is anomalous that victims of burglaries, especially those present at their dwelling when the burglary takes place, are not permitted to give evidence using CCTV.

Both those reforms are well worth consideration for inclusion with the matters in the lapsed Bill, if it re-introduced.

FAMILY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM

The Family Violence Intervention Program (FVIP) is a coordinated inter-agency response to address family violence in our community through the criminal justice system.

The Office continues to devote significant resources to the FVIP. The Family Violence (FV) team consists of 5.5 specialist prosecutors in recognition of the large number of family violence cases. The FV team is one of two specialist units within the Office – the other being the sexual offences unit. The number of FV matters continues at a high level, although with the change-over in the way statistics are captured within the Office, it has been difficult to make exact comparisons to previous reporting periods.

Family violence matters are identified at the charging stage by the police and once before the Magistrates Court, are transferred to the Family Violence Court.

FV prosecutors appear in the majority of family violence matters. This provides consistency of approach and continuity for victims. Prosecutor case loads continue to be allocated according to defendants’ surnames to enable prosecutors to be familiar with the background history of repeat offenders and ensure consistency.

A significant challenge for FV prosecutors is prosecuting matters where the complainant is a reluctant participant in the proceedings. The reasons for this vary but issues such as financial reliance and pressure from the defendant and other family members play a major role. As with all prosecutions, the FV team proceeds with charges where there

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ANNUAL REPORT  2011-12  DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS                                                                                    20

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