Anonymous witnesses

The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 allows courts to issue special
measures directions. These directions seek to reduce the stress and problems
experienced by vulnerable and intimidated witnesses giving evidence to courts. The
directions can allow the courts to put up a screen between the witness and the defendant,
their evidence can be video-recorded in advance and submitted as a video to
the court, or it can be given by a live TV link, the public can be asked to leave the
court and the lawyers can remove their wigs and gowns.
One special arrangement to prevent the intimidation of witnesses which has caused
problems in the criminal courts is where witnesses have been granted complete
anonymity when giving evidence. Anonymity can be secured by, for example, putting
up a screen and electronically disguising the voice of the witness. The House of Lords
concluded in R v Davis (2008) that this arrangement was unlawful because the
defendant had not been given a fair trial. The Law Lords were concerned that without
knowing the identity of the person giving evidence against them, defendants
were unable to effectively reply to the accusations. If they knew who their accuser
was, they might, for example, be able to show that the individual had a personal
vendetta against them which provided the motive to tell lies to the court. The facts of
the actual case were that two men had been shot and killed at a party. Davis had been
prosecuted, but argued that his ex-girlfriend had told lies about him to the police and
had arranged for others also to tell lies about him. Three witnesses gave evidence
against Davis anonymously and, as a result, he was not allowed to ask them questions
which might reveal their identity. He was therefore unable to find out whether they
were acquaintances of his ex-girlfriend, which had hindered the presentation of his
defence.

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