Making the case for introducing pre-trial cross-examination

Instead of live cross-examination before a jury, new rules in England and Wales will see vulnerable victims and witnesses undergo private cross-examination at an earlier stage in proceedings. Is is a change Ireland should consider making also, writes Alan Cusack

LAST week, in one of her first public acts as Britain’s lord chancellor and justice secretary, Elizabeth Truss launched a joint paper which sets out the ministry of justice’s vision for the future of the English justice system.

The vision, according to the paper, is “to modernise and upgrade our justice system so that it works even better for everyone, from judges and legal professionals, to witnesses, litigants, and the vulnerable victims of crime”.