The days of victims of crime costing the Government thousands of dollars to fly them back to Barbados to provide evidence in the law courts may soon be a thing of the past.
Enter videoconferencing link as part of the judicial process, once required changes are made to the legislation, mainly the Evidence Act.
Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin, in an interview, said that the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) would lead the charge in allowing people who were victims of crime but had to leave before arrests could be made or the start of trials, to have their evidence heard live from their country of residence via videoconferencing.
For decades, the island’s coffers were reduced when Government was forced to pay for air travel in order for victims to give their evidence in the Magistrates’ Court for preliminary hearings or in the Supreme Court.
