Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung
Osnabruck (ots)
Violence against children: Lower Saxony wants to facilitate video interrogation
SPD and Greens plan Federal Council initiative – “Must enable appropriate interrogation, especially for children in victim situations”
Osnabruck. The SPD and the Greens in the Lower Saxony state parliament want to use a Federal Council initiative to ensure that child protection in criminal proceedings is strengthened and that minors can be questioned more easily via video interrogation – instead of face to face with the accused in the courtroom. This is reported by the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (NOZ).
So far, no distinction has been made between underage and adult witnesses for the use of audiovisual methods. As a prerequisite for the use of video technology, there must also be an “urgent risk of serious harm to the well-being of the witnesses”.
Social Democrats and Greens in the state parliament now want to change the federal law so that video interrogation of children and young people is already permitted if a “considerable disadvantage for the well-being of the witnesses is to be feared”. According to SPD parliamentary group leader Grant Hendrik Tonne, who himself worked as a criminal defense lawyer for a while, it is important “to make it possible for children in victim situations to be appropriately questioned.” The initiative is to be debated in the state parliament next week.
Numerous studies have shown that the protection of children and young people in the German judiciary does not comply with international human rights requirements or the Council of Europe guidelines for a child-friendly judiciary.
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Original content from: Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, transmitted by news aktuell
