Attending the Crown, Magistrates' or Youth Court as a witness

Overview

Have you been asked to attend the Crown, Magistrates’ or Youth Court in Northern Ireland as a witness in a criminal case in the last three years? If so, we’d like to hear from you.

When a person is asked to give evidence in a criminal Court for the prosecution, they receive an invitation from the Victim and Witness Care Unit within the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPS).  There may also be occasions where a summons is issued to secure the attendance of a witness at criminal Court proceedings. This is an official document requiring the person to attend a Court on a specific date. Invitations or summonses may be sent to individuals who were a victim of a crime or who witnessed a crime, or to professional witnesses who give expert testimony to the Court relating to their job. 

Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) (the organisation responsible for inspecting criminal justice organisations in Northern Ireland) is conducting an inspection on how the criminal justice system supports, manages, and facilitates witness attendance at proceedings in the Crown, Magistrates’ and Youth Courts. We would like to hear your views and experiences to determine whether the process of securing witness attendance at Court can be improved, modernised or made more efficient.  More information about our inspection can be found in our Terms of Reference, which is available at www.cjini.org.

If you have received an invitation in the last three years, please fill out the survey in relation to your experience.  If you are the parent or guardian of a child witness who has received an invitation, please fill it out on their behalf.  The survey should take aproximately 10 minutes to complete. The closing date for responses is 5.00pm on Friday 6 March 2026.  
  
Some witnesses may be invited or summonsed to give evidence in more than one case. The survey will ask you to think about a recent case you were involved in, although there is also an opportunity at the end to tell us more generally about all your experiences of being invited/summonsed to attend Court. 

Your response to the survey is anonymous. We do not ask for your name or any personal details. All the information gathered will be used solely for this Inspection to help Inspectors assess how well the process of securing witness attendance at Court works and, if needed, to secure improvements for future witnesses.

If you require assistance in completing the survey or require the survey in a different format or language, please contact us. If you have any questions about the survey or our inspection, or if you would like to provide the inspection team with more information, please email info@cjini.org. 

If you are a Police Officer, a PSNI staff member or an employee of Forensic Services Northern Ireland and have been invited to give evidence in your professional capacity, a separate survey is available for you to complete on Citizen Space.