A DVD FOR young people on going to court has been produced by the Courts Service. It will be uploaded on to YouTube, Bebo and Facebook and also distributed by Barnardos, which assisted in its preparation.
The DVD describes how the courts work, how a video link operates, how to take an oath, who is present in court and what is required from a witness, be they adult or child.
Brendan Ryan, chief executive officer of the Courts Service, said young people could find themselves in court for a variety of reasons from a young age.
This could include involvement in child abduction cases or child trafficking, in disputes involving custody of and access to children, all of which are dealt with in the High Court, as well as cases involving children who break the law.
The number of supervision and care applications in the District Court had increased in recent years, he said. In addition, children may be asked to give evidence in cases in which they were witnesses.
Fergus Finlay, chief executive of Barnardos, to whom the first copy of the DVD was presented, said that it would be distributed through the organisation’s 40 projects around the State, all of whom had some children with experience of having to go to court.