Commentary on Sections Part 5: Offences under Domestic Law Section 57: Protection of victims and witnesses
102.This section extends the protections currently afforded to victims and witnesses of sexual offences under the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Acts 1976 and 1992, Chapters 1 to 3 of Part 2 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 and the Sexual Offences (Protected Material) Act 1997 to victims and witnesses in proceedings brought under this Act. Such protections include the entitlement to anonymity, restrictions on the freedom of defendants to cross-examine their alleged witnesses personally and restrictions on what evidence about an alleged victim’s sexual behaviour can be considered relevant in a trial. These protections will apply when a prosecution under this Act relates to conduct amounting to the criminal offences specified in those Acts as attracting such protections. So, for example, where an individual is prosecuted for a crime against humanity under section 51 that involves a rape, the alleged victim will be entitled to all the protections that would have been afforded to her under the specified statutory provisions had the defendant been prosecuted for rape rather than for a crime against humanity.