Queensland Consolidated Acts

EVIDENCE ACT 1977 - SECT 21AK

21AK Videorecording of affected child’s evidence

(1) The affected child’s evidence must be taken and videorecorded at a hearing under this section (a
"preliminary hearing" ) presided over by a judicial officer.

Note—

See section 21AO for when a court may order that an affected child’s evidence not be taken and videorecorded under this subdivision.

(2) The videorecording must be presented—

(a) if taken for a committal proceeding—to the court at the committal proceeding; or

(b) if taken for a trial—to the court at the trial.

(3) To facilitate the operation of this section for the taking of the child’s evidence in a proceeding, the judicial officer may order that the preliminary hearing be conducted by audio visual link.

(4) The provisions of part 3A relating to the use of an audio visual link in criminal proceedings apply for, and are not limited by, subsection (3) .

(5) To facilitate the operation of this section for a trial, the judicial officer must, if it is not practicable at the place of the trial to take and videorecord the child’s evidence—

(a) adjourn the trial to an appropriately equipped place to allow the evidence to be taken and videorecorded; or

(b) make another order the judicial officer considers appropriate including, for example, an order that the preliminary hearing be conducted by audio visual link.

(6) If the taking and videorecording of the child’s evidence is done at a place that is not a courtroom, the place is taken to be a courtroom for all purposes for the preliminary hearing.

(7) It does not matter whether or not the judicial officer presiding and the counsel appearing at the preliminary hearing are the same judicial officer presiding and counsel appearing at an adjourned preliminary hearing or at the proceeding in which the videorecording is presented to the court.

(8) Also, it does not matter if, while the preliminary hearing is conducted, the judicial officer, counsel, parties and witnesses are at different places.

Example—

To facilitate the taking and videorecording of the affected child’s evidence, the judicial officer directs that the child give the evidence by audio visual link. The preliminary hearing is conducted while the judicial officer, counsel and defendant are in a courtroom in a particular city and the child is in a room in another city connected to the courtroom through the audio visual link.

(9) In this section—

"appropriately equipped place" , for the taking and videorecording of an affected child’s evidence, means a court, or another place that is not a court, that—

(a) is equipped to take and videorecord the child’s evidence; and

(b) allows the defendant to see and hear the child while the child is giving evidence, for example, through an audio visual link.

"evidence" means evidence-in-chief or evidence given in cross-examination or re-examination.