UK Inquiry Tracker

Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Victims Bill

Justice Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 26 May 2022 Closed: 30 May 2024 Parliament page

The Justice Committee is to undertake pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Victims Bill. It will examine the draft Bill to assess the adequacy of its policy objectives and key provisions. Read the call for evidence to find out more about the inquiry.

29 Recommendations

19 Conclusions

1 Report

2 Letters

3 Events

Activity timeline 7 events

19 Apr
2023

Correspondence

Letter from the Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, dated 29 March 2023 on the introduction of the …

19 Jan
2023

Report published

Eighth Special Report - Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Victims Bill: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report

30 Sep
2022

Report published

Second Report - Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Victims Bill

28 Jul
2022

Correspondence

Letter from Tom Pursglove MP, Minister of State for Justice, dated 27 July 2022, on the Bill of Rights and victims of John Worboys

28 Jun
2022

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 5, Palace of Westminster

Committee event

21 Jun
2022

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster

Committee event

14 Jun
2022

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster

Committee event

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Second Report - Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Victims Bi…	HC 304	30 Sep 2022	48	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

1 result

48 Conclusion Not Addressed

Second Report - Pre-legislative sc…

Victims Bill unlikely to achieve sufficient change given existing criminal justice backlogs

A principal purpose of the draft Bill is to improve victims’ experience of the criminal justice system but it is not clear that the Bill as drafted will do enough to achieve the change required. It has also been published … Read more A principal purpose of the draft Bill is to improve victims’ experience of the criminal justice system but it is not clear that the Bill as drafted will do enough to achieve the change required. It has also been published against a backdrop of significant court backlogs, with victims of crime too often waiting years for their cases to come to court, and criminal legal aid advocates turning away from the profession. The Government is taking steps in tackling those deep-rooted problems but until they are resolved victims will continue to suffer harm for too long. (Paragraph 154) 60 Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Victims Bill stniop gnitfarD :xennA noisulcnoc eettC esnopser JoM noitseuQ txeT esualC snosrep hcihw yfiralc ot devorpmi eb dluohs gnidroW .detoN dedeen sdrow yna erA ton seod noitces sihT“ )9(5 laitnetop diova ot seitud eht fo tnuocca ekat ot deen ohW ?”ekat“ erofeb erusolcsid a eriuqer .noisufnoc ekat“ dluohs tahw ro fi noitamrofni fo eht ”tnuocca otni dluow erusolcsid eht ?seitud tnaveler atad eht enevartnoc noitalsigel noitcetorp gninimreted ni tub( erusolcsid a rehtehw ekat ,os od dluow eht tnuocca otni siht yb desopmi seitud ”.)noitces snrecnoc siht taht yfiralc ot devorpmi eb dluohs gnidroW )d()5(01 noitces ni desu taht stcefler gnidrow sihT tahw raelcnu si tI eht fo retsiniM a…“ )c()11(5 .”snosirp“ fo noitinfied eht 1102 tcA ytilibisnopseR laicoS dna mrofeR eciloP tnaveler si ”gninaem“ gnisicrexe ni ,nworC seod“ nosirp a taht mrfinoc ot dednetni si hcihw gninaem eht ti si :ereh noitaler ni snoitcnuf ”.nosirp ecrof ria ro yratilim ,lavan a edulcni ton gnitimil – ”nosirp“ fo eht nihtiw( snosirp ot -non ot gninaem eht nosirP eht fo gninaem rednu snosirp yratilim ”…)2591 tcA 2591 AP eht fo )1(35s fo gninaem eht ro – ?”snoitcnuf“ laitnetop diova ot devorpmi eb dluohs gnidroW .detoN no tnemmoc eeS rehtehw gninimreted ni“ )01(6 .noisufnoc .)9(5 sesualc ,os od dluow erusolcsid a ”…tnuocca otni ekat .detcerroc eb dluohs rorre gnitfarD .detoN siht :tniop Show less

Government Response

The government acknowledges the low rate of victims reporting crimes and details how the Victims Bill aims to build confidence and trust by clarifying entitlements, increasing transparency, and improving support services. However, it does not directly address the committee's concern about the bill's sufficiency or the impact of court backlogs.

Ministry of Justice

View details

Government Response AI assessment · 48 of 29 classified

Accepted 22

Acknowledged 11

Not Addressed 1

Rejected 14

Total 29 recs + 19 conclusions

Correspondence 2 letters

19 Apr 2023 To committee Letter from the Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, dated 29 March 2023 on the introduction of the Victims and Prisoners Bill

Parliament page

28 Jul 2022 To committee Letter from Tom Pursglove MP, Minister of State for Justice, dated 27 July 2022, on the Bill of Rights and victims of John Worboys

Parliament page