AQW 21866/22-27
Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry
Tabled Date: 04/02/2025
Answered On Date: 10/02/2025
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Justice whether her Department has engaged with the PSNI in relation to low conviction rates for sexual offences.
Answer:
There is ongoing engagement between my Department, the PSNI and other criminal justice organisations to address a range of issues relating to sexual offences, including conviction rates. A number of measures have been or are being progressed in partnership with the PSNI. I anticipate that, collectively, these measures will increase victims’ confidence in the criminal justice system, improve their experience and contribute to reducing attrition. Consequently, they are therefore likely to impact positively on conviction rates. These measures include: research into attrition to understand the scale and the reasons for victims of sexual offences disengaging from the criminal justice process. This research is being conducted in partnership with the PSNI and PPS with an initial report expected before the end of March. The report will be used to inform future policies aimed at reducing attrition and therefore potentially increasing convictions; and, new interventions, including those under the Gillen Review implementation programme, that are helping to support victims and to raise their confidence in the justice system. Examples of these include: the establishment of Remote Evidence Centres (RECs) in Belfast and Craigavon, in addition to the existing NSPCC-led facility in Derry/Londonderry. RECs allow vulnerable witnesses to give their best evidence from a secure and comfortable location and importantly, they help reduce the risk of re-traumatisation by removing the possibility that victims might encounter the defendant or their supporters in or around the courthouse on the day of the trial. The overall conviction rate for REC cases stands at 91%, with 62% by guilty plea without the need for the victim to give oral evidence; new legislation to protect the anonymity of complainants and victims of serious sexual offences by excluding the public from Crown Court hearings, as well as any subsequent appeal; and, work with PSNI to raise awareness of the Sexual Offences Legal Adviser (SOLA) service, which my Department launched in April 2021. The scheme provides free, independent legal advice to adult complainants in serious sexual offence cases. It has so far provided advice to over 2,000 adult complainants and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many telling us that without SOLA support they would have not continued with their case. An equivalent service to provide free legal advice to child victims and their families launched on 5 February 2025. My Department has also engaged with PSNI and other criminal justice partners to inform the development and introduction of new specific offences to strengthen the law and provide additional tools for law enforcement in response to sexual offending. This includes the introduction of new laws to deal with behaviours commonly referred to as upskirting, downblousing and cyber-flashing as well as new laws around stalking and non-fatal strangulation. These new laws will provide greater protections to individuals at risk, but they also strengthen the ability of police to respond to these crimes and to seek convictions which could lead to up to two years in prison for perpetrators and, where committed to obtain sexual gratification, can result in the most serious offenders being placed on the sex offenders’ register for up to 10 years. The PSNI is represented on the Strategic Oversight Board for the Domestic and Sexual Abuse Strategy, the Programme Board for the Gillen Review Implementation Programme and the Advocacy Service Board, which oversees the contract awarded to ASSIST NI to deliver advocacy support to victims of domestic and sexual abuse across Northern Ireland. All of this work is intended to ensure victims of sexual offences are fully supported, remain within the justice system and achieve a positive outcome. I am also aware that the PSNI is currently working with the PPS to develop and implement a new joint strategy and action plan on the investigation and prosecution of serious sexual offences. This will set out and inform best practice in the investigation and prosecution of sexual crime, with a focus on further reducing delay and improving victims’ experiences. My officials will continue to engage regularly with their PSNI counterparts.
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