Victims: Right to Review

1. What assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the victims’ right to review scheme pilot.

3. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the victims’ right to review scheme pilot on victims of rape and other serious sexual offences.

The victims’ right to review pilot gives rape victims the opportunity for their case to be reviewed by another lawyer if the Crown Prosecution Service is considering dropping the prosecution. I have personally pushed for its roll-out, as it helps ensure that victims are given fairness and dignity and are heard. In April, the pilot was extended to a fourth area, CPS Wales, and I am determined to see national roll-out before the end of the summer.

I put on the record my thanks for the personal commitment and dedication of the Solicitor General to the scheme and its work. She will know as well as any of us that these cases are the most heartbreaking and difficult that families deal with, and that we support as constituency MPs. It is an important scheme, so can she tell us more about what she is doing to promote it, so that families and those involved are aware of its existence?

I thank my hon. Friend for his comments and for highlighting the importance of the scheme for victims. We have already seen evidence of cases—which would otherwise have been stopped—continuing because of the pilot scheme. My hon. Friend is right that it is essential that victims are made aware of their right to request a review, if their case falls under the scheme, and that the CPS provides information about the scheme and how to access it. I hope we will see further roll-out of the scheme as soon as possible.

I welcome the steps that the Government have taken to improve the conviction rates for rape and other serious sexual offences, including announcing a new independent legal advice service for rape victims, changes to stamp out rape myths in court, and expanding the victims’ right to review scheme, which is particularly significant given that only about 3% of recorded offences result in a suspect being charged or summoned. Could the Solicitor General provide a progress update on the victims’ right to review scheme pilot for victims of rape, and indicate when the scheme might be rolled out nationally?

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting some of the steps already taken to support victims of rape and serious sexual violence. I am particularly proud of the introduction of independent legal advisers, which is something I worked on in opposition. It was a manifesto commitment, and I am pleased to see the Government deliver on it. The victims’ right to review pilot has now been rolled out in four CPS areas, and I hope to see a national roll-out before the end of the summer, so that victims across the country get the benefit of the scheme.

I thank the Solicitor General for her previous answers. I have been contacted by constituents whose son was among the 79 British victims formally recognised in the Canadian proceedings against Kenneth Law. While families welcome that their loved ones have finally been acknowledged in court, many are devasted that there will be no prosecution in the UK, following the decision not to pursue extradition, particularly as they were informed only just before the decision was made public, leaving little time to process it. What assessment has the Solicitor General made of the potential merits of extending the victims’ right to review scheme to cases involving bereaved families affected by major cross-border prosecutions such as that one?

I thank the hon. Lady for raising this incredibly harrowing case. As she will be aware, Kenneth Law has pleaded guilty in Canada to 14 counts of aiding and abetting suicide. Every one of the 73 victims who died in England and Wales has been formally named and recognised as part of those proceedings. Extradition proceedings carry significant legal risk and run the risk of the victims in England and Wales not being involved in proceedings. As I understand it, the victim impact statement from those affected in England and Wales will now form part of the sentencing procedure in Canada. I know that the CPS is working with the victims’ families and the Canadian authorities to ensure that the bereaved families in England and Wales are at the heart of that process in Canada.