CPS to launch vulnerable witness e-learning service

Solicitors may soon be able to get on-line access to guidance on how to deal with vulnerable witnesses, if a service adopted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is rolled out across the profession.

The e-learning package was developed by consultancy IQdos following the publication in 1998 of Speaking up for Justice, a Home Office report focusing on the treatment of vulnerable witnesses and victims of sexual offences.

The CPS signed up to train more than 4,000 of its lawyers and caseworkers to deal with witnesses more sensitively, and will extend the project next year in order to reflect recommendations in a government report on the investigation and prosecution of rape cases.

The bar and police have also been using the service, which is based on LaunchPad software.

This provides authoring, content management and a tracking tool - similar to Microsoft PowerPoint - but it can be delivered over a range of media including the Internet and various types of network.

The package includes updates about legal developments, and guidance on how to identify and deal with vulnerable or intimidated witnesses and inform them about the court process.

It is amended according to changes to the law and policy.

Lawyers working throughout the UK can access the package from their individual workstations.

IQdos now plans to make the package available to organisations including the Law Society and not-for-profit agencies next year.

CPS policy adviser Sheelagh Morton said e-learning signified a fundamental shift in the approach to legal training.

'This blended initiative has marked an end to formal legal lectures in a classroom setting.

E-learning enables lawyers to access, research and update their knowledge of legislative and non-legislative developments at the right time.'

A Law Society spokeswoman said the initiative would mean 'cost-effective and efficient' training for large numbers of solicitors in many different locations.

Paula Rohan