THE CRISIS IN JUSTICE: WILL INDEPENDENT ADVOCATES FOR RAPE VICTIMS MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE?

Paul Harris 

The new government have had their first party conference. And for those waiting for some clue about solving the justice crisis there was little other than repeated mentions about how the Rule of law matters.

The justice secretary did not mention the court backlog, insufficient number of lawyers or legal aid.

However, the Justice Secretary did announce that there will be a national rollout of independent legal advocates for rape victims.

I have no objection to the introduction of such a role, but I am not quite sure how it would help, where they would come from and how they would be funded.

The real challenge which no one mentioned is that the average time for all rape trials where a defendant is on bail from the alleged offence to case completion is five and a half years.  Many trials now are being listed in 2026 and 2027.

There is already a huge shortage in both advocates who will prosecute or defend those accused of serious sexual offences because the pay for being involved in such challenging, and stressful cases is so low.

Consequently, whilst the victim’s commissioner and others may welcome this, the Government will effectively create a pool of independent advocates to represent rape victims and in the meantime will not have enough advocates to prosecute or defend the allegations.

It is my understanding that when a complainant reports a rape, they will have a dedicated officer trained in dealing with victims of serious sexual assault.  They will be with them throughout the process.  

 I recognise that there are many cases of rape that go unreported and anything that can be done to provide better support for complainants to make sure their voice is heard is a good thing, but surely what we really need to do to make the journey less painful for the victims (Complainants) of serious sexual assault. The way to do this is to shorten the time they are in the system, shorten the period their life is on hold, without resolution and also shorten the time the accused’s life is on hold.

So, this is a practical and sensible way forward to meet these challenges and which may make reporting a sexual assault less daunting

1. To issue specific timetable for the investigation of prosecution of rapes which maybe as follows:

1. Investigation to complete within one month from the date of the incident being reported, to be extended to 3 months only in complex and exceptional matters.
2. A trial to take place within 12 months of the offence
3. Dedicated courts can be set up to deal with these allegations. Perhaps some of the High Court Judges who get murder tickets can be given a sex ticket, and they can assist with the backlog. They seem to have a number of non-sitting days
4. The suggestion that there is no more money to fund this does not wash. There has been no additional money for over 14 years.   The Government can find the money to sort out Health & Transport and if they are as committed to the Rule of Law as they say, then they should find the money to make sure the system is properly funded and there are sufficient lawyers to prosecute and defend these very serious traumatic cases within a proper time.

None of the above means that the independent advocate for victims is not a good idea, but without the above the real challenges of bringing these prosecutions will simply not go away with or without independent advocates for rape victims.