Draft Victims Bill

Draft Victims Bill

The purpose of the draft Bill is to:

● Put victims at the heart of the criminal justice system, ensuring their experiences are front and centre of the process and encouraging them to remain engaged in the criminal justice system, enabling justice to be done and making our communities safer.

● Ensure we have an effective justice system that serves society by restoring victims' confidence that their voices will be properly heard and that perpetrators will be brought to justice.

The main benefits of the draft Bill would be:

● Improving the support victims receive in and beyond the criminal justice system, particularly for victims of sexual violence, domestic abuse and serious violence.

● Holding agencies such as the police, Crown Prosecution Service and HM Courts and Tribunals Service to account for the service they provide to victims.

● Providing clarity about what victims can and should expect from the criminal justice system.

The main elements of the draft Bill are:

● Enshrining the Victims’ Code in law.

● Increasing transparency and oversight of the services that criminal justice agencies provide to victims by granting a greater role for Police and Crime

Commissioners and inspectorates to assess delivery.

● Enabling improvements in the quality and consistency of support services for victims of sexual violence, domestic abuse and serious violence.

● Elevating and increasing awareness of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors so that they can better work together with other agencies to consistently meet the needs of victims.

Territorial extent and application

● The draft Bill will extend and apply to England and Wales.

Key facts

● Victims who have received support from services such as Independent Sexual

Violence Advisors are nearly 50 per cent less likely to withdraw from the criminal justice process, compared to those who did not receive support.

● Rape and serious sexual offences have high rates of victims dropping out of the system. Between July and September 2021, 45 per cent of sexual offences were assigned a police outcome of ‘evidential difficulties – victim does not support action’, the highest level since 2015-16.