The Role of Crown Prosecutors in Child Advocacy Centres in Canada

Appendix – Interview script

Background

How many years have you been a Crown?

How many years has your work focused on prosecuting crimes against vulnerable victims?

Current arrangement

Do you have a specific relationship or arrangement with a CAC/CAC? Please describe/explain.

If not addressed:

  1. Are you officially part of the MDT?
  2. Do you (or another Crown) attend MDT meetings regularly? If no, attend to discuss a specific case?
  3. Do you use the CAC facilities for any of your work with the victim/witness, such as meetings or court preparation?

What is the best/most effective part of having a specific relationship with a CAC/CAC? (regardless of whether they do)

Is there anything you would change about your current arrangement with the CAC/CAC?

Does anything frustrate you? Is there anything you would like to improve? Please explain.

How satisfied are you with your current situation as it pertains to your involvement with a CAC? 1-10

Is there a key person with whom you work at the CAC (i.e., one contact person)? Are there consistent people? Do you provide any training/advice/guidance and to whom?

If training/guidance: How receptive are they (for each group/person mentioned)? 1- 10

Ideal arrangement

What are the critical elements to making such an arrangement work?

How does [should] file sharing/communication work? (i.e., privacy legislation/concerns)

Do you foresee any possible downsides to Crowns in Canada having a formal arrangement with CACs? How would you improve the model?

Outcomes

Have there been changes in process and/or outcomes of these cases since the Crown started working closely with the CAC? If so, please tell us about these changes.

For example:

  1. Has the quality of the evidence improved since the implementation of the CAC in your region? Yes/No    Explain.
  2. Has the quality and availability of support(s) for the victims/witnesses improved since the implementation of the CAC in your region? Yes/No Explain.

If you could provide one key piece of advice to a Crown going into a new CAC/CAC relationship, what would it be?

If you could provide one key piece of advice to a new CAC about working with Crown, what would it be?