News

The 2026 Victim Survey, which launched on 8 April, will now close on 20 May 2026.

The Victims' Commissioner blogs on her response to the Victims’ Code consultation, and why stronger laws must now be backed by real systems and accountability.

As the Victims and Courts Bill gains Royal Assent and becomes law, hard‑won reforms driven by bereaved families show how lived experience can shape the justice system.

As National Stalking Awareness Week comes to a close, the Victims' Commissioner details how stalking can escalate, following her speech at Suzy Lamplugh Trust's conference on the critical link between stalking and "fatal fixation".

The government has announced a pilot by HM Courts & Tribunals Service to test the use of artificial intelligence to produce court transcripts.

Victims and bereaved families will be given significantly more time to challenge sentences they believe do not reflect the seriousness of the crime, following long‑awaited reforms to the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme announced on Thursday 9 April by the Government.

Have you been a victim of crime in the past five years? Whether you reported the crime to the police or chose not to, the Victims’ Commissioner would like to hear from you.

The Victims’ Commissioner has welcomed the publication of the Terms of Reference for the Statutory Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, describing it as "an important step towards confronting the profound institutional failures” that left children exposed to widespread abuse."

The Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, Claire Waxman OBE, has responded to the national policing position on the use of self‑swabbing kits in cases of rape and serious sexual assault. The new policing statement sets out concerns about the safety, evidential reliability and lack of safeguarding associated with self‑swabbing kits used outside regulated environments. 

Susannah Hancock will take up post as Chief Executive Officer at the Office of the Victims’ Commissioner on 26 March 2026.