Queensland Consolidated Acts

EVIDENCE ACT 1977 - SECT 21M

21M Meaning of protected witness

(1) For this division, each of the following persons is a
"protected witness" —

(a) a witness under 16 years;

(b) a witness who is a person with an impairment of the mind;

(c) for a proceeding for a domestic violence offence or prescribed special offence, an alleged victim of the offence;

(d) for a proceeding for a prescribed offence, an alleged victim of the offence who the court considers would be likely to be disadvantaged as a witness, or to suffer severe emotional trauma, unless treated as a protected witness;

(e) for a proceeding for a domestic violence order-related offence, a person who—

(i) is named as the aggrieved, or a relative or associate of the aggrieved, in the domestic violence order; and

(ii) the court considers would be likely to be disadvantaged as a witness, or to suffer severe emotional trauma, unless treated as a protected witness.

(2) It does not matter whether the proceeding mentioned in subsection (1) (c) or (d) relates also to another offence that is not a domestic violence offence, a prescribed special offence or a prescribed offence.

(3) In this section—

"alleged victim" of an offence means a person, other than the person charged, who is—

(a) alleged to be a person in relation to whom the offence was committed; or

(b) alleged to have been subject to violence in relation to the offence.

"domestic violence order-related offence" , in relation to a domestic violence order, means—

(a) an offence for the contravention of the domestic violence order under the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 , section 177 (2) ; or

(b) an offence for an act or omission that also constitutes an offence mentioned in paragraph (a) .

"prescribed offence" means an offence defined in the Criminal Code , section 75 , 122 , 127 , 206 , 229BB , 229BC , 308 , 309 , 319A , 323 , 335 , 338A , 339 , 340 , 346 , 354 , 354A , 355 , 359 , 413 , 414 , 415 , 417A or 419 .

"prescribed special offence" means an offence defined in the Criminal Code , section 210 , 213 , 215 , 216 , 217 , 218 , 219 , 221 , 222 , 227 , 229B , 306 , 313 , 315 , 315A , 316 , 317 , 320 , 320A , 322 , 323A , 323B , 324 , 359E , 363 , 363A , 364 , 409 or 412 or chapter 32 .

"violence" means—

(a) an assault on, or injury to, a person; or

(b) a threat of an assault on, or an injury to, a person.