Years of underfunding and mismanagement have left the justice system on its knees, and today’s damning report from Victim Support lays bare the poor experience that victim-survivors of sexual violence – or at least those ‘fortunate’ enough to see their cases charged – face in our justice system.
Perhaps nowhere is the lack of funding and care more evident to victims than in the courts, which is why I recently produced a paper to set out my assessment of the court system, and to make recommendations for their more efficient and effective operation. I am pleased to see today’s report echo many of these calls, having understood the traumatic nature of the court experience for victims.
It is abundantly clear that that the criminal justice system is failing victims, and it is little wonder why many end up questioning whether the agonising wait and brutal court experience are worth it. I hear from victims every day, including many who have survived experiences of sexual violence and have described the system as worse than the rape. Is this a justice system we can be proud of? Victims are failed at every point during their justice journey, with basic rights not being delivered and our fragmented and broken system causing unnecessary delays, prolonging their trauma and delaying their recovery.
We have spent years making piecemeal changes which might improve one part of their journey but fail to deliver the reforms urgently needed to provide quality support and protection to victims. Whilst I am proud of the progress made with Operation Soteria, there is still much work to embed this well across all forces to ensure swifter investigations and reduce the time for charging decisions.
In the courts, victims routinely have their cases adjourned, sometimes multiple times, delaying cases by years; special measures for vulnerable victims are poorly explained and delivered; and sadly the pre-recording of evidence is proving itself a failed policy.
I have made a number of recommendations for change to ensure a better experience for victims, including greater use of technology to enable remote viewing of hearings, meetings between victims and prosecution counsel, an improved understanding and explanation of special measures, and mandatory Ground Rules Hearings in rape and sexual offence cases to protect victims from unexpected and intrusive cross-examination.
With the previous Government agreeing to a lower number of sitting days for courts than was sat last year, there is understandable concern that courts will struggle to keep up with demand, hampering their ability to reduce the backlog. When combined with an understaffed court and legal system, it is difficult to see how things will improve.
This Government has a big task ahead of them, having inherited a broken justice system and a lack of resources to tackle it. I welcome their bold commitments to halve violence against women and girls, and to prioritise sexual violence cases through dedicated courtrooms – a longstanding call of mine.
If we are to rescue our justice system, there needs to be a clear plan for tackling the growing backlog of court cases – through better technology and listing practices, incentivising of legal professionals and court staff, and most crucially in resourcing the system to be able to run at full capacity.
Alongside this work to expedite cases and reduce wait-times, we also need to consider how victims are actually cared for in a system that can feel dehumanising and retraumatising. Government’s ambition for specialist courtrooms, along with other initiatives to improve the victim experience, are crucial in this journey. Victims are among the most essential parts of the justice system, and we need to support them if we are to see justice delivered.
