Testimony at court: a randomised controlled trial investigating the art and science of persuading witnesses and victims to attend trial

Abstract

The presence of civilian witnesses and victims in court is central to the effective operation of the criminal justice system. However, there is evidence of significant non-attendance which can result in ineffective and cracked trials. To address this, West Midlands Police Witness Care Unit and the Behavioural Insights Team designed an intervention using behavioural insight principles consisting of (1) a new conversation guide for Witness Care Officers (WCOs); (2) a redesigned 'Warning Letter' confirming details of the proceedings; and (3) a new reminder call and SMS. The impact of the new approach was evaluated through a randomised controlled trial in which 36 WCOs were randomly assigned to either "business as usual" (control) or treatment. The evaluation used an intention-to-treat design with implementation guided and encouraged at several points. Subgroup analysis was undertaken to explore whether differential effects were seen for domestic violence cases or between those that were victims and witnesses. Results indicated that the treatment approach was directionally positive in all cases, but that the increase in attendance was not statistically significant. This is in line with findings of other similar research in this area.

Digital justice: A rapid evidence assessment of the use of mobile technology for offender behavioural change

“…Similar research was conducted by Monnington-Taylor et al (2019), in another RCT designed to test the impact of an intervention aimed at improving victim and witness court attendance, by those assigned to the West Midlands Police's Witness Care Unit in England. The intervention consisted of three elements: a new conversation guide for case managers to use, when first ‘warning’ victims and witnesses of the need to attend court; a redesigned warning letter using nudge principles and a further reminder call and SMS sent approximately 1 week ahead of the court date. Their findings were in line with those of Cumberbatch and Barnes (2018), suggesting that the nudge approach did not increase court attendance.…”