Member

On the other hand, the US system permits the victim to have their own counsel to argue admissibility, to make representations on the victim’s behalf and to protect the victim’s rights. However, I have also heard that, if the victim is not prepared to give evidence, sometimes—quite often in American courts, in fact—the case does not proceed even if there is other evidence. So I ask the Minister: where US courts martial involving British victims have taken place, have those victims been advised of their rights under US law to have a Special Victims’ Counsel? If so, how are they informed, and who pays for it? Or is it true, as I have been told by one victim, that a Special Victims’ Counsel is available only in a US court to US citizens?