Criminal Case No. HAC 124 of 2016, State vs. OSEA CAWI (In the High Court of Fiji at Lautoka Criminal Jurisdiction)

State vs. OSEA CAWI makes a ruling on child-friendly court procedure. It was issued in connection with a charge of rape of a child under the age of 13 where the State made applications to facilitate the presentation of evidence by the child victim. These included requests to conduct the trial in camera, suppress the name of the victim, use a screen between the child witness and the accused, allow a support person from the Women's Crisis Centre to be seated beside the child victim, and read the statement given by the child victim to the police in the evidence-in-chief. 

The court acknowledged that one of the legal and psychological dilemmas in child sexual abuse cases is how to prosecute an offender without causing additional trauma to children without infringing the right of the accused to a fair trial. In granting the State's application, the court cited, among others, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which was ratified by Fiji. Article 3 specifically provides that, "In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration." The CRC also recognizes the need to respect the right to privacy of children and the need to support children who have been neglected, abused, or exploited to recover physically and psychologically and reintegrate into society.