Military Court S28 Video Conferencing and Recording - Contract Award Notice

Please note - the contract has already been awarded and this is a contract award notice is for transparency only.

1. Purpose

1.1 Operational gaps in the Military Court Service's (MCS) ability to meet a new statutory requirement for the provision of technical special measures relating to vulnerable and intimidated witnesses for proceedings in the Service Courts.

1.2 This shortfall affects ability to: -

1.3 Comply with Service Court Rules amendments as set out in sections 22A and 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA) applying to vulnerable / intimidated witnesses in the Service Justice System.

1.4 The call off will last for a duration of five years.

2. Background to the contracting authority

2.1 The Military Court Service provides a criminal court service for the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force in the Court Martial, Summary Appeal Court and Service Civilian Court.

2.2 The Military Court Service has a statutory responsibility for the management of special measures in accordance with the relevant areas of the legislation, to provide the ability to widen the vital support required to support victims and witnesses who are vulnerable.

3.Requirement

3.1 Service Court Rules have been updated to permit Judge Advocates to direct Video recorded cross-examination or re-examination and the use of video recorded evidence in chief in proceedings relating to sexual offences. This places a statutory requirement upon the MCS to have the infrastructure, policies, procedures, and processes in place to facilitate the recording of these hearings.