Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 22
22
Deferred
Commit to offering independent legal advice to all rape victims, subject to pilot success.
Recommendation
If engagement with victims’ groups as promised by the Rape Review Progress Update demonstrate support and the need for independent legal advice, the Government must commit to offering legal advice to all victims of rape, subject to the success of the pilot. (Paragraph 127) The CPS response to rape
Government Response Summary
The government committed to the national rollout of section 28 (pre-recorded cross-examination) for sexual and modern slavery complainants, with implementation ongoing across Crown Courts, and is consulting on criminal legal aid fee scheme changes to reflect this work, but did not commit to offering legal advice to all victims.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
As stated in our second Rape Review Progress Update, we have gone beyond the ambition in the Rape Review to extend the pilot of section 28 for sexual and modern slavery complainants to four more Crown Courts. In September 2021 we extended the pilot to four more Crown Courts, and since December 2021 we have been working to roll out section 28 to all Crown Courts for this cohort. The first phase of this rollout began on 31 March, and following two further phases in May and June, section 28 is now available in 37 Crown Courts in total. Over the coming months, we will continue to roll out section 28 nationally for sexual offence and modern slavery complainants to all Crown Courts. We will engage the police and CPS to ensure the readiness of each Circuit area as part of a phased expansion. The Ministry of Justice is working with the full range of criminal justice stakeholders, including counsel, to address the concerns that were raised in the Committee’s report, and make the necessary operational changes to deliver section 28 rollout. The Lord Chief Justice has also issued a revised section 28 practice direction to give judges greater flexibility to balance listing pressures with the measures needed to best support vulnerable and intimidated witnesses. Sir Christopher Bellamy’s independent review of criminal legal aid found a concern among barristers that the present fee scheme does not reimburse them for the additional time required to appear in a case involving a section 28 hearing. The Ministry of Justice is consulting on proposed changes to the fee scheme in response to Sir Christopher’s review. The consultation asks for views on how the fee scheme could be remodelled to reflect section 28 work.