Specialist courts for rape cases to be rolled out in England and Wales

Following the Prime Minister’s commitment to roll out specialist rape courtrooms to address years of trial delays, the Victims’ Commissioner welcomed the delivery of long-overdue reforms while warning that specialist courts alone cannot overcome the scale of the Crown Court backlog.

Claire Waxman OBE, Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, said:

I first called for specialist courts in 2021 as a practical way to fast-track rape and sexual offence cases, reduce delays, and improve victims’ experiences of the justice system. With specialist courts featuring in the 2024 manifesto, it is welcome to see the Government delivering on a long overdue commitment.

However, the reality is that the Crown Court backlog is now significantly worse than when I first made that call. Tens of thousands more victims are now waiting for their cases to reach trial, and specialist courts alone will not be enough to tackle the scale of the delays or deliver the swift justice victims deserve.  Indeed, court delays could prevent many rape victims from accessing the specialist courtrooms that are being set up to support them.

The measures being proposed are welcome, but they should be standard for every courtroom and every victim. Good technology, separate waiting areas, and trauma-informed processes should be the norm across the justice system, not the exception.

I am pleased to see plans for a Rape Justice Taskforce, which has the potential to drive a timelier and more effective response to rape cases and improve accountability across the system.

While I also welcome the commitment to provide a single point of contact for rape and sexual offence victims attending court, this measure by itself will not transform victims’ experiences of the justice system. Victims experience the justice system as one journey, yet too often the system responds in silos. Focusing on a single point of contact at the court stage alone does little to address the fragmented experience many victims face. What is urgently needed is a seamless, end-to-end approach that puts victims at the centre and provides consistent support throughout.