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Ground Rules Hearings: Facilitating Vulnerable Witnesses and Defendants—Duties, Procedure and Directions under CrimPR 2025 and CPD 2023 (England and Wales)

Practice notes
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This Practice Note sets out when the court may issue directions about the proper treatment and questioning of a witness or defendant at a ground rules hearing, explains the procedural framework for such hearings, and outlines the directions that might be made in a particular case. Those directions form part of a wider suite of special measures intended to support the effective participation of a vulnerable witness or defendant in criminal proceedings, where necessary and proportionate. For detail on other special measures available in criminal cases, see Practice Notes: Special measures and Special measures for the accused. The procedural scheme for a ground rules hearing appears in Part 3 of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2025 (CrimPR 2025), SI 2025/909, with further guidance in Part 6 of the Criminal Practice Directions 2023 (CPD 2023). Additional guidance is available in the Crown Court Compendium Part I and the Equal Treatment Bench Book.

Duty to facilitate participation

When preparing for trial, the court must take all reasonable steps to enable the participation of any person, including the defendant. Enabling participation includes making directions on the suitable treatment and questioning of a witness or defendant, particularly where questioning will be managed through an intermediary...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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