Ms Caroline Counihan:

I endorse what all of the other speakers have said about buildings and facilities. I agree completely with the idea of having a menu of options. What will make it easier for an individual child to participate in the process? We should start with the children and the menu of what in the criminal courts would be called special measures and perhaps, in the wider context, criminal proceedings protective measures. That leads me to the need for specialised training, the range of approaches which might be suitable in the case of an individual child and for everybody else, including Courts Service staff, judges and lawyers who appear regularly in the system. Everybody has to have a basic understanding and accept that each individual child needs an individual approach. From there spring ideas and imaginative solutions to the problem of the fabric not being adequate. We could easily become creative and improvise for a period, while waiting for the beautiful new courtroom to be built in an area, just by considering what was essential. It is essential that the place be friendly, safe and not intimidating; that the child have an opportunity to ask questions beforehand about the procedure; that the process in court be child friendly; that there be no bullying of the witness; and that there be no repetitive questions in convoluted legal language and so forth. That is where we need to start.