WITNESS INTERMEDIARY
In conjunction with the Speech Pathology practise, Let’s Communicate provides a specialised service of a Witness Intermediary.
What Is It?
A Witness Intermediary facilitates communication between a witness, party, suspect or defendant and others in the justice process to ensure that communication is enabled, coherent and accurate. Intermediaries are impartial and neutral.
A Witness Intermediary facilitates communication between a witness/suspect and:
The Police
Prosecution and Defence Teams
The Court
This ensures that the communication process is as complete, coherent and accurate as possible. The Intermediary is impartial and neutral and ultimately her duties to the court are paramount.
The Intermediary is allowed to explain the questions or answers so far as is necessary to enable them to be understood by the witness or the questioner but without changing the substance of the evidence.
The Difference
Registered Intermediaries are not investigators and their role is not the same as witness advocate, witness supporters or expert witnesses.
Witness Intermediary
Samantha is an Accredited Witness Intermediary on the Victims Services panel. Samantha has been a WI since the start of the pilot program in 2017.
During those 6 years Samantha has had extensive experience working with and facilitating communication clinically and within the judicial context. Court experience has been both within the program and out of pilot programs in Newcastle, Sydney and Regional NSW.
The witness intermediary’s role is to assist child witnesses to give their best evidence in criminal investigations and court proceedings. Witness intermediaries are impartial. They are not expert witnesses, advocates, or a support person.