Silent witness
Question
A friend of mine is due to appear in court as a witness but is worried about it. Does she have the right to change her mind and not go?
Answer
If your friend decided to be a witness on her own then she does have the right to change her mind. She would then only be made to appear if she was issued a witness summons. If she refused to come to court after being summoned to a criminal case she could risk being arrested. This could then lead to a fine or even imprisonment for being in contempt of court.
If your friend has already given evidence on the case in a Magistrate's Court and was being asked to give evidence in a higher court she would need to turn up.
If she's thinking of changing her mind because she's scared or is being harrassed then she should consider talking to the police about the problems before changing her mind.
The court service have a range of leaflets on their website about being a witness that may be of some use, these include information for people giving evidence in civil and criminal cases.
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