The Act Commentary on Sections Part 3 - Criminal evidence, investigations and procedure Section 101: Special provisions relating to sexual offences
500.Section 101 inserts new section 22A into the 1999 Act. Section 22A makes special provision for complainants in respect of sexual offences tried in the Crown Court. New section 22A(7) and (9) require the admission of the complainant’s video-recorded statement under section 27 of the 1999 Act, unless that requirement would not maximise the quality of the complainant’s evidence.
501.New section 22A(1) and (3) establish that this new section will apply if the complainant of a sexual offence is a witness in proceedings relating to that sexual offence, but not if the witness is under 18 years old (the rules set out in section 21 apply to a witness under 18). Also the requirement to admit the video recorded evidence in chief only applies if a party to the proceedings makes an application requesting that it should be admitted.
502.New section 22A(2) excludes proceedings in magistrates’ courts from these provisions. This does not mean that video recorded evidence in chief is not admissible in such proceedings, but only that the rule in section 22A in favour of admitting such evidence does not apply.