The case for change
Witness support in the UK is real, valued and fragmented
Good people run good services. But what a witness is offered depends on whether they are a victim, which side called them, which court they are in and which nation they live in. Here is the evidence, and what we are asking for.
What exists today
In England and Wales, a victim or prosecution witness in a criminal case is contacted by a witness care officer, and the Witness Service offers support at every criminal court to prosecution and defence witnesses alike. E06 E08 Victim Support took over the Witness Service from Citizens Advice on 1 April 2026, with £14 million a year from the Ministry of Justice. E06
In Scotland, the prosecution service runs Victim Information and Advice for the people it refers, and the first contact for any witness is whoever cited them. E26 In Northern Ireland, a Victim and Witness Care Unit gives a named case officer, with a Witness Service for adults and a Young Witness Service for under-18s. E21 E22
None of this is a criticism of the people doing that work. The problem is the shape of the system around them.
Where the gaps are
Read across a row to compare nations. Read down a column to see how support thins out the further a witness is from being a victim in a criminal case.
- In place
- Partial
- None found
- Not yet mapped
| Witness | England and Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victim giving evidence in a criminal case | In place Rights under the Victims' Code, a witness care officer, and the Witness Service at court. E04 E06 E08 |
Partial Victim Information and Advice for those the prosecution service refers, plus Victim Support Scotland. E26 |
In place A named case officer in the Victim and Witness Care Unit, plus the Witness Service or Young Witness Service. E21 E22 |
| Prosecution witness who is not a victim | Partial A witness care officer and the Witness Service, but no rights under the Victims' Code. Covered instead by a Witness Charter last updated in 2013. E04 E05 |
Partial First contact is the Procurator Fiscal who cited you. Extra support depends on referral. E26 |
In place Victim and Witness Care Unit and the witness services. E21 E22 |
| Defence witness in a criminal case | Partial No witness care officer. Official guidance sends you to the defence lawyer for dates, travel, video links and interpreters. The Witness Service is open to you. E06 E08 |
Partial First contact is the defence lawyer who cited you. We have not yet confirmed what court-based support is open to defence witnesses. E26 |
None found Official guidance describes the witness services as being for prosecution witnesses. We found no route described as open to defence witnesses. E21 |
| Witness in a civil case | None found No national witness support service found. The court has a duty to take proportionate measures for vulnerable witnesses, but someone has to ask. E18 |
Not yet mapped We are still mapping this. |
Not yet mapped We are still mapping this. |
| Witness in a family case or a tribunal | None found No national witness support service found. Judicial guidance on vulnerable witnesses exists for employment tribunals. |
Not yet mapped We are still mapping this. |
Not yet mapped We are still mapping this. |
| Witness at an inquest or fatal accident inquiry | Not yet mapped We are still mapping this. |
Not yet mapped We are still mapping this. |
Not yet mapped We are still mapping this. |
| Expert or professional witness | Not yet mapped We are still mapping this. |
Not yet mapped We are still mapping this. |
Not yet mapped We are still mapping this. |
"None found" means we looked and found no national service described as open to that witness. It does not prove none exists. If we have missed one, tell us and we will correct the map.
Five inconsistencies
1. Rights for victims, a 2013 charter for everyone else
The Victims' Code in England and Wales says in terms that all other witnesses "can access services provided under the Witness Charter rather than under this Code". E04 The Witness Charter was last updated on 10 December 2013. E05 Parliament has since strengthened oversight of the Victims' Code, including a new duty on the Commissioner to report on compliance with it. E20 A bystander who saw the same events as the victim is outside all of that.
2. A different route depending on who called you
Official guidance gives a prosecution witness a witness care officer. It tells a defence witness to ask the defence lawyer about dates, travel, video links and interpreters. E08 In Northern Ireland the official description of witness services is that they exist "to help prosecution witnesses". E21 A witness does not choose which side needs their evidence.
3. Outside the criminal courts, almost nothing
The civil courts' own rules accept that a witness's vulnerability can "diminish the quality of evidence" and require the court to act. E18 But we have found no national service that supports witnesses in civil, family or tribunal cases in the way the Witness Service does in criminal courts. The duty exists. The help to use it does not.
4. Three nations, three designs
Scotland has legislated for a Victims and Witnesses Commissioner and is recruiting its first. E25 Northern Ireland has a Bill before the Assembly to create a Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses of Crime, and its inspectorate found that only 3 of 16 earlier recommendations on victims and witnesses had been fully achieved. E23 E24 Each nation is solving the same problem separately, with little published comparison of what works.
5. Information that does not keep up
On 15 November 2026, more than seven months after the Witness Service changed hands, the government's own guide for people going to court still sent witnesses outside London to the "Citizens Advice Witness Service". E07 Only 19% of people in the Victims' Commissioner's 2023 survey had heard of the Victims' Code. E10 Inspectors rated 36.9% of the prosecution letters to victims that they examined as adequate. E12 When a system has this many parts, keeping the public correctly informed becomes nobody's job.
The public purse
Why this matters to the taxpayer
Every case that reaches court has already cost the public an investigation, a charging decision, legal aid and court time. Much of that is spent before the witness walks in.
-
56%
of Crown Court trials in April to June 2026 either cracked (31%) or were ineffective (25%) on the day.
-
48%
of victims surveyed who had a Crown Court trial date saw it changed at least once.
Small survey; see caveat E09
-
32.4%
of recorded sexual offences were closed by police because the victim did not support further action.
Year to March 2026 E14
-
£14m
a year is what the Ministry of Justice pays for the Witness Service across every criminal court in England and Wales.
The argument
- Lost cases waste money already spent. When a witness disengages, the public cost of investigating and preparing the case is not recovered. Thousands of prosecutions a quarter stop after charge because the victim no longer supports them. E13
- Delay makes disengagement more likely. The Victims' Commissioner has reported that long waits and repeated date changes lead victims to consider withdrawing. E09 The backlog is at a record level. E01
- Fragmentation has its own cost. Several organisations can each contact the same witness, each holding part of the picture. Duplication and missed handovers cost staff time, and cost more when a hearing fails because of them.
- Evidence quality is the point of the exercise. The courts' own rules say vulnerability can diminish the quality of evidence. E18 A hearing that goes ahead with a witness too anxious or confused to give their best account is public money spent on a weaker result.
What we do not claim
We do not claim that witness absence is the main reason trials fail. The largest published reasons for ineffective Crown Court trials are overlisting, cases not being ready and defendants being absent. E02
We do not put a pound figure on the saving. We have found no official figure for the cost of a failed trial, and the figures on drop-out do not record why people withdrew. E13 E14 That missing measurement is itself one of our asks.
What we are asking for
Five asks
One front door for every witness
A single, current, official place where any witness, in any court in the UK, can find out who supports them and how to reach them. It should be kept up to date when providers change.
The same standards whoever calls you
Bring the Witness Charter up to date and give witnesses who are not victims, including defence witnesses, standards that can be relied on and that someone is responsible for monitoring.
Support beyond the criminal courts
Map, then fill, the gap for witnesses in civil, family, tribunal and inquest proceedings, starting with the most vulnerable.
Count it
Publish data on witness attendance, waiting, withdrawal and satisfaction, and an official estimate of what a failed trial costs. Without that, nobody can show what works or what it saves.
Declared interest
Every Witness is run by Caseform AI Limited, which is developing Witness Assist, a commercial digital service for people attending court as witnesses, and the Caseform AI platform. Better and more joined-up witness support would be good for witnesses. It could also be good for those businesses. Judge the evidence on this page on its sources, which are all linked. Full disclosure.
For parliamentarians, officials and journalists
Every figure on this site links to its source in the evidence register, with the date we checked it and any caveat. You are welcome to quote it. If you would like a briefing, or you think we have something wrong, contact admin@caseform.ai.