Giving videotaped testimony in court

If you are the victim of a crime of any sort, you can testify using a videotape recording if

• you were aged under 18 on the date of the crime;
• you have a physical or mental disability.

The police investigator is responsible for videotaping your original statement, in which you describe the facts that led to charges being laid.

The judge can then admit the video recording in evidence. This will spare you from having to repeat some or all of your testimony about the crime you experienced.

The criminal and penal prosecuting attorney (the prosecuting attorney in the case) may ask the judge, on your behalf, to admit the video recording in evidence.

You must be present in the courtroom when the judge admits the video recording in evidence.

When the judge calls you, you take your place in the witness box. The videotape is then played.

Once the tape has been played, you must state that

• you are the person in the video and you made the statements in the video;
• you told the truth in the video recording;
• your statement remains true.

You will not have to repeat what you have already stated in the video. The video recording constitutes your testimony about the events you describe. It is as if the statement you make in the video recording had been made live in the courtroom.

The prosecuting attorney may ask you questions to complete your testimony.

Next, the defence lawyer may cross-examine you about the facts you describe in the video, or about your answers to the prosecuting attorney’s questions.

The police must have made the video recording within a reasonable time after the alleged offence.

The judge may decide that a video recording made months or years after the offence was made within a reasonable time if a convincing explanation can be provided for the delay.

The prosecuting attorney must explain why the delay has not affected your ability to remember the circumstances of the offence.

In addition, the admission of the video recording in evidence must not interfere with the proper administration of justice.

If you have a mental or physical disability that makes it hard for you to testify, a video recording may be admissible in evidence if you are able to describe the facts of the situation, even if you find this difficult.