Source: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0626/HRS_0626-0001-0505_0005.htm
Timestamp: 2019-07-18 15:52:24
Document Index: 501993541

Matched Legal Cases: ['§5', '§2', '§27', '§7', '§1035', '§2']

Rule 505.5 Victim-counselor privilege. (a) Definitions. As used in this rule:
(1) A communication is "confidential" if not intended to be disclosed to third persons other than those to whom disclosure would be in furtherance of the provision of counseling or treatment services to the victim or those reasonably necessary for the transmission of the communication.
(2) "Domestic violence victims' program" means any refuge, shelter, office, safe home, institution, or center established for the purpose of offering assistance to victims of abuse through crisis intervention, medical, legal, or support counseling.
(3) "Sexual assault crisis center" means any office, institution, or center offering assistance to victims of sexual assault and the families of such victims through crisis intervention, medical, legal, or support counseling.
(4) "Social worker" means a person who has received a master's degree in social work from a school of social work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.
(5) A "victim" is a person who consults a victim counselor for assistance in overcoming any adverse emotional or psychological effect of sexual assault, domestic violence, or child abuse.
(6) A "victim counseling program" is any activity of a domestic violence victims' program or a sexual assault crisis center that has, as its primary function, the counseling and treatment of sexual assault, domestic violence, or child abuse victims and their families, and that operates independently of any law enforcement agency, prosecutor's office, or the department of human services.
(7) A "victim counselor" is either a sexual assault counselor or a domestic violence victims' counselor. A sexual assault counselor is a person who is employed by or is a volunteer in a sexual assault crisis center, has undergone a minimum of thirty-five hours of training and who is, or who reports to and is under the direct control and supervision of, a social worker, nurse, psychiatrist, psychologist, or psychotherapist, and whose primary function is the rendering of advice, counseling or assistance to victims of sexual assault. A domestic violence victims' counselor is a person who is employed by or is a volunteer in a domestic violence victims' program, has undergone a minimum of twenty-five hours of training and who is, or who reports to and is under the direct control and supervision of, a direct service supervisor of a domestic violence victims' program, and whose primary function is the rendering of advice, counseling, or assistance to victims of abuse.
(c) Who may claim the privilege. The privilege may be claimed by the victim, the victim's guardian or conservator, or the personal representative of a deceased victim. The person who was the victim counselor at the time of the communication is presumed to have authority to claim the privilege but only on behalf of the victim.
(8) Proceedings against the victim counselor. In any administrative or judicial proceeding in which the competency or practice of the victim counselor or of the victim counseling program is at issue, provided that the identifying data of the victims whose records are admitted into evidence shall be kept confidential unless waived by the victim. The administrative agency, board or commission shall close to the public any portion of a proceeding, as necessary to protect the confidentiality of the victim. [L 1992, c 217, §5; am L 1993, c 193, §2; am L 2008, c 154, §27; am L 2010, c 135, §7]
RULE 505.5 COMMENTARY
This rule, which resembles victim-counselor privilege provisions now in existence in some twenty states, e.g., Cal. Evid. Code §§1035 through 1037.7 (1992), encourages and protects the counseling of emotionally distressed victims of violent crimes by according privilege status to confidential communications made in the course of the counseling process. In adopting a similar law, N.J. Stat. Ann. §2A:84A-22.13 and 22.15 (1991), the New Jersey Legislature declared that the "counseling of victims is most successful when the victims are assured [that] their thoughts and feelings will remain confidential and will not be disclosed without their permission." The present provision proceeds upon just such a policy basis.
RULE 505.5 SUPPLEMENTAL COMMENTARY
The Act 154, Session Laws 2008 amendment replaced the term "dependent adult" with the term "vulnerable adult" in subsection (d)(4), with reference to chapter 346, part X. Act 154 amended chapter 346, part X, by, among other things, expanding the category of adults eligible for adult protective services by replacing the term "dependent adult" with the less restrictive term "vulnerable adult."
Empowering Battered Women: Changes in Domestic Violence Laws in Hawai‘i. 17 UH L. Rev. 575 (1995).