A draft government ordinance was adopted at a meeting of top bureaucrats Thursday to allow video monitoring in courts from June 1 to protect sex crime victims and others giving testimony, government officials said.
The ordinance will be adopted by the Cabinet today, completing the enforcement of all nine items in three laws relating to the protection of crime victims, including amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law, all enacted last May, the officials said.
The other two laws are the Crime Victims Protection Law that took effect in November and the revised Law for the Inquest of Prosecution that was put into practice in June.
The video monitoring system enables victims of rape, child pornography and other sex crimes to give their testimony in a private room rather than in open court. Rape victims often refer to the court appearance as "a second rape."
The victims' room and the courtroom will be connected by a cable so that prosecutors, lawyers and judges can see the victims on TV monitors.
Equipment such as video cameras, TV monitors and microphones have been installed in 65 courts -- 50 district courts and their 15 branches -- across the country, the Supreme Court said earlier.
Other courts will be provided with the equipment when necessary, the court said.
Revisions of the three laws already in effect include the abolition of a six-month time limit for victims to file complaints with legal authorities, permission for victims to have access to trial records that are necessary to lodge a lawsuit and granting the victim of a crime the opportunity to state an opinion in court.