Reports & recommendations
107 recommendations from 16 reports, each with the government response on the record. Filter by government response, report, nation or delivery status.
Reports (16)
Recommendations (2)
Joint inspection of Victims Code compliance
The Chair and Panel recommend that the Ministry of Justice, Home Office and Attorney General commission a joint inspection of compliance with the Victims' Code in relation to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Victims' Commissioner should be consulted on the inspection approach to ensure that it is fully informed by the experiences of victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.
HM Government stated in July 2019 that the Ministry of Justice had launched a compliance framework for the Victims' Code on 1 April 2019, with the Criminal Justice Board expected to receive its first national report in early 2020 (HM Government, Jul 2019). In October 2022, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recorded that the department had paused framework development in October 2020 because of operational pressures during the pandemic, and that the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorate had suspended joint inspections (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). The inquiry noted that the department was looking to restart work and renew engagement with the board subject to operational capacity, and had published a response to its Victims Bill consultation in May 2022 (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).
Vulnerable witness protections in civil courts
The Chair and Panel recommend that the Ministry of Justice provides in primary legislation that victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in civil court cases, where they are claiming compensation in relation to the abuse they suffered, are afforded the same protections as vulnerable witnesses in criminal court cases. The Chair and Panel understand that cost is already a barrier to victims and survivors considering a civil claim. In considering how to fund the implementation of this recommendation, the Ministry of Justice must ensure that this barrier is not further increased. The Chair and Panel recommend that the Civil Procedure Rule Committee amends the Civil Procedure Rules to ensure that judges presiding over cases relating to child sexual abuse consider the use of protections for vulnerable witnesses.
In July 2019, HM Government stated that a Civil Justice Council subcommittee had drafted a consultation document and would produce a final report that autumn, after which the Ministry of Justice would liaise with the Civil Procedure Rule Committee regarding witness protections (HM Government, Jul 2019). The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recorded in October 2022 that the council published its report in February 2020, the Civil Procedure Rules were amended in April 2021 to require special measures for vulnerable court parties, and provisions in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 enabled special measures directions in civil cases involving specified offences (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).