New specialist courts for rape cases will speed up justice and
provide dedicated support to victims, under plans unveiled by the
Labour Party today (Saturday 24 September).
The party will use existing space at every crown court location
in England and Wales to establish a specialist courtroom for
dealing with rape trials.
Labour’s plan of using around 80 courts goes further and faster
than the Tories and acts on recommendations from independent
inspectors and parliament’s justice select committee of
MPs.
Labour will also make changes to the way trials are listed by
working with the Lord Chief Justice and judges to get rape cases
listed as a priority - to bring down the unacceptable waiting
times and delays which are causing so many victims to drop out.
At every court site, Labour would also hire extra Independent
Sexual Violence Advisors (expert support workers) and provide
specialist trauma training to staff – to guide victims and ensure
they are treated with care and sensitivity.
Victims now face more than 1,000 days’ delay from the report of
the offence to completion at court. Additionally, only 1 in 100
suspected rapists are being currently prosecuted, despite
complaints to the police being at record highs.
These delays, along with inadequate support, means that 42% of
rape cases now end with the victim withdrawing their
support.
, Labour’s Shadow Justice
Secretary, said:
“Under the Conservatives, criminals are repeatedly let off while
victims are being let down.
“While the Tories have effectively decriminalised rape, Labour
will put victims back at the heart of the justice system.
“Labour will take decisive action to fast-track rape cases in
every court, provide dedicated support to vulnerable survivors,
and increase minimum jail terms for rapists – to ensure we keep
the public safe.”
ENDS
Notes to
editors:
-
Changing court listings to
fast-track rape cases:
-
Rape survivors are often the most
vulnerable and traumatised victims. Rape victims should be
treated as vulnerable and therefore priority should be given to
listing their cases for trial.
-
This would help fast track cases
through the system, so that rape victims are not waiting nearly
three years for trials to be completed. It would bring down the
unacceptable waiting times and delays which are causing so many
victims to drop out.
-
The six-month custody time
limit means that where someone is remanded in custody the case
must be heard within six months. For rape cases where
the main issue to be tried is consent (the vast majority of
cases), the defendant is unlikely to be in custody, so the
six-month custody time limit does not apply, and the cases are
therefore not prioritised.
-
Under this policy proposal where a
rape defendant is not remanded in custody, we will work with
the judiciary to ensure these cases are prioritised - this
means that rape cases would potentially be heard quicker than
another case where the defendant is not in custody, such as a
common assault case.
-
There is currently 71
crown court centres, and a total of 83 crown court
locations.
-
Providing dedicated support
to victims:
-
Specialist Rape Courts are dedicated
courtrooms to deal specifically with rape cases. In these
courts all court staff, police and prosecutors working on cases
will receive specialist trauma training, and we would hire an
extra expert at-court support worker (Independent Sexual
Violence Advisors) to be available for
victims.
-
This would use the existing court
capacity with court rooms in every crown court
location allocated to dealing with rape cases, with existing
ticketed judges hearing the
claims.
-
Best practice around separate
entrances and exits for accuser and accused will be enforced
and safe space rooms should be available where
possible.
-
In our Survivors Support Plan, we
put forward calls to ensure all criminal justice professionals
dealing with rape and serious sexual offence
(RASSO) victims are trained in trauma-informed practice
(e.g. Crown Prosecution Service prosecutors,
police liaison, judges) on rape myths and
stereotypes.
-
We would also ensure RASSO
prosecution work is designated as a clear, named permanent
specialism in the CPS, with recruitment based on the specific
knowledge and skills needed to allow for specialist provision
in rape and serious sexual
offences.
-
The government only intends to pilot
the approach in three courts.
-
Information on the average time
taken from offence to completion for cases for
rape:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-01-19/107510.
-
Percentage of victims that withdraw
their support:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/crime-outcomes-in-england-and-wales-2021-to-2022. Table
2_2 of the data set.
-
Rape Outcomes - Table
2.2. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/crime-outcomes-in-england-and-wales-2021-to-2022/crime-outcomes-in-england-and-wales-2021-to-2022
-
HMICFRS and HMCPSI’s joint
inspection of the investigation and prosecution of rape in
England and Wales released this year advocates for widespread
reform, recommending immediately, to help clear the significant
Crown Court backlog for rape cases, the Ministry of Justice
should group adult rape cases into specialist rape offence
courts. This should include:
-
Rapidly putting in place the
infrastructure needed to support a specialist court is in
place.
-
Making sure that all staff have
relevant trauma training; and
-
Concurrently evaluating the
advantages and disadvantages of this approach. This evidence
base, which should be published, should inform a decision on
whether this measure should be temporary or
permanent.
https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/publications/a-joint-thematic-inspection-of-the-police-and-crown-prosecution-services-response-to-rape-phase-two-post-charge/
-
Labour will introduce a Victims’ Law
to put victim rights into statute, after the Conservative
government promised a bill in three manifestoes, but has yet to
deliver: https://labour.org.uk/press/labour-frontbench-and-pcc-candidates-write-to-conservatives-demanding-they-back-labours-victims-law/
