FAQs

The Witness Support team will contact you and tell you when you need to go to court.

If you’ve made a statement to the police you will have been asked to sign the statement agreeing to attend court as a witness. If you have been asked to attend court then it’s likely that you will have to give evidence.

This depends on a number of factors. Victim Support Witness Service will keep you updated as the trial progresses in court.

It is not advisable to bring children to court (unless they are witnesses). If you can’t arrange for your children to be cared for you should consider bringing another adult with you to look after them. The witness service cannot look after any children at court unless they too are witnesses.

Yes, although depending on the space available at court there may not be room for them in the witness waiting rooms.

Contact the Victim Support Witness Service (the person who has asked you to come to court) and explain the situation.

You will be given a claims form on the day of the trial. Make sure you keep all receipts for any money you’ve spent on travel, parking etc. Once you have finished giving evidence, fill out the form and give it to witness support volunteer supporting you on the day.  It can take up to 30 days to receive payment.

If you contact Victim Support Witness Service, they can arrange a tour of the court before your trial.  These tours are completely personalised and you can ask questions to our staff about what will happen on the day you attend court.

You will be given a copy of your witness statement when you go to court, so that you can refresh your memory before you give your evidence but you will not be allowed to read your witness statement when giving your evidence in the court room. If you need help to read your statement, please tell the Victim Support Witness Service.

A Victim Impact Statement is made by a victim of crime. It gives you a chance to say how you’ve been affected by what happened and the impact the crime has had on your life. It’s different to the witness statement, but it’s just as important.

When passing sentence, the Deemster or Judge will consider all factors in the case, including the evidence that they’ve heard or that has been read in court. They will also consider the Victim Impact Statement.  The VIS tells the court about the impact of the crime on the victim or victims. The Deemster or judge will then take into account any relevant sentencing guidelines and pass an appropriate sentence.

If you’re concerned about seeing the defendant in court please contact Victim Support Witness Service
If you’re a young, vulnerable or intimidated witness, there are also ways that the court can help you to give your best evidence, which are called special measures.   These must be requested and then approved by the court.  Our team will explain the options available to you.

Victims do not have a Advocate.  Only the defendant has their own Advocate working their case.

It’s the Attorney General’s Chambers (AG’S) that brings the case against the suspect on behalf of the Crown. You are asked by them to be a ‘witness of fact’ because you have first-hand knowledge of the events that took place. The prosecutor presents the case on behalf of the AG’s.

The prosecutor should introduce themselves to you, on the morning before the trial, but cannot discuss the evidence. If you wish to see the prosecutor, tell a member of the witness service and they will help.

The defence lawyer’s role is to represent the defendant (the person accused) and to ‘cross-examine’ you. The defendant has said they are ‘not guilty’ so they may have a different version of events to yours. So this means that the lawyer will put the defendant’s version of events to you, for you to agree or disagree with. If the questioning is too aggressive or inappropriate, the trial Deemster or Judge can intervene to stop it.

Usually the courts will break for lunch at some point.

This will depend on who has given evidence but our Witness Service will be able to explain what will happen over lunch time.

Our Witness Service will advise you when you can leave on the day.

After you’ve given evidence and have been released (the Deemster or Judge have said you can go), you’re allowed to sit in the back of the court. However, there are occasions when this might not be a good idea. You should discuss this with a member of our Witness Service team.

Our Witness Service, the Police Officer in charge of the case or the prosecutor on the day will let you know the outcome of the trial.

The money is paid by the defendant directly to the court. You should receive a letter from Courts Service explaining the details of the compensation award and how the compensation will be paid to you.

How things are done in court will remain the same, but we strongly advise witnesses to avail of our services because no two courts are the same.  Courtrooms may be laid out differently, and the Witness Service may not have the same facilities available to them, so may not be able to offer a separate waiting room, but will still be able to offer a safe environment in which to wait.