Can Pre‐recorded Evidence Raise Conviction Rates in Cases of Domestic Violence?

• Published date: 01 December 2023
• Author: Steve S. Yeong,Suzanne Poynton
• Date: 01 December 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.12525

The Australian Economic Review, vol. 56, no. 4, pp. 487–499 DOI: 10.1111/1467-8462.12525

Can Pre‐recorded Evidence Raise Conviction Rates in Cases

of Domestic Violence?

Steve S. Yeong* and Suzanne Poynton

Abstract

This paper explores the association between

pre‐recorded evidence and court outcomes in

cases of domestic violence. Net of controls

and time fixed effects, we find that cases with

pre‐recorded evidence are 3.4 percentage

points more likely to result in a conviction.

This increase occurs through three channels:

a 5.6 percentage point increase in the

probability of a conviction among (the one

in four) cases that proceed to a defended

hearing; a 2.4 percentage point increase in

the probability of a guilty plea; and, a 2.4

percentage point decrease in the probability

that the prosecution withdraws their case.

1. Introduction

Domestic violence (DV) is a major public

policy problem in both the developed and

developing worlds. In Australia it is estimated

that close to one in four women have

experienced at least one instance of DV since

the age of 15 (ABS 2017). The national cost

of DV over the 2015–16 financial year was

estimated at about 22 billion Australian

dollars (KPMG 2016). To put this figure in

context, the size of the Australian Government

budget deficit over the same period was 39.6

billion Australian dollars (Commonwealth

Treasury 2016).

In an effort to reduce the prevalence of DV,

governments in Australia and elsewhere have

passed laws and introduced policies designed

to emphasise the criminal nature of DV.

1

These approaches depend heavily on the

successful prosecution of offenders. DV

prosecutions, however, often fail because

victims, after reporting DV to police, decline

to give evidence. This is partly responsible for

the relatively low conviction rate in cases of

DV when compared to other types of violent

crime.

2

In an attempt to address this issue, the

New South Wales (NSW) Parliament intro-

duced the Criminal Procedure Amendment

(Domestic Violence Complainants) Act 2014

(NSW). This legislative change, which we

refer to hereafter as the Domestic Violence

Evidence‐in‐Chief (DVEC) reforms, allows

victims of DV to provide their evidence‐in‐

chief via a pre‐recorded video statement with

police at the time the incident occurs.

3

* Steve S. Yeong, University of Sydney Discipline of

Economics, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Email: steve.yeong1@gmail.com

© 2023 The Authors. The Australian Economic Review published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltdon behalf of The University of

Melbourne, MelbourneInstitute: Applied Economic & Social Research, Faculty of Businessand Economics.

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