AQW 25570/22-27
Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry
Tabled Date: 03/04/2025
Answered On Date: 11/04/2025
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Justice to detail how her Department is working with criminal justice partners to address the long-standing disparity between the number of sexual offences reported and those resulting in conviction.
Answer:
Achieving convictions in sexual offence cases can be particularly challenging and can involve complex evidential and legal issues, including more recently, a significant increase in digital material. The bar is high to obtain a conviction and there is often an absence of physical evidence and corroborative witnesses, meaning the evidence frequently comes down to the accounts of the parties involved. However, there is ongoing engagement between my Department and criminal justice partners that is intended to support victims and increase their confidence in the criminal justice system. I anticipate that this work should 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 soon. 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. In 2024, 344 witnesses (199 adults and 145 children) attended a REC to give evidence. The conviction rate for cases where the witness was in a REC was 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; provision of advocacy support services for high risk victims of domestic and sexual abuse; and, the introduction of the Sexual Offences Legal Adviser (SOLA) service, which my Department launched in April 2021 and the corresponding Children’s SOLA (CSOLA) service which launched in February of this year. These schemes provide free, independent legal advice to complainants in serious sexual offence cases. The adult service has so far provided advice to over 2,000 complainants and since its recent launch, around 200 referrals have already been made to the CSOLA service. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many service users telling us that without SOLA support they would have not continued with their case. I am also aware that that delay is a major source of stress that contributes to high attrition rates. Significant work is therefore underway to reduce unnecessary delay in the criminal justice system. This work incudes reform of the committal process which means complainants no longer need to give oral evidence during committal proceedings. This has not only improved the efficiency of the process but, crucially, is also improving the experience of complainants who are now only required to give oral evidence once at the crown court trial. In addition, my Department is working with judiciary and criminal justice partners to support the operation of the judge led Under 13 and Under 16 protocols to expediate serious sexual offence cases involving children. For cases within the protocol, there has significant reduction in the average time taken between reporting the crime and court disposal. The benefits of this include removing the additional impact on young children of lengthy delays, therefore reducing anxiety and aiding their recovery. My Department has also engaged with 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 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 can lead 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 Commissioner Designate for Victims of Crime has reported that victims frequently report that fear of disclosure of their personal medical or counselling records under court disclosure processes can contribute to both their withdrawal from the criminal justice system and on occasion, to them delaying seeking help and support from professionals. Therefore, before the end of the current mandate, I plan to introduce legislative provisions to improve the third party material disclosure process to ensure that the complainant is put on notice of any application for material, such as their counselling and medical records, and has the right to have independent legal representation at pre-trial third party material disclosure application hearings. At a strategic level, the joint Justice / Health Domestic and Sexual Abuse Strategy and its associated Action Plan sets out a range of measures aimed at creating a society where domestic and sexual abuse is not tolerated, where victims receive the support they need and where those responsible are held to account. I am also aware that the PSNI and PPS are working together 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 offences, with a focus on further reducing delay and improving victims’ experiences. 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. My officials will continue to engage regularly with our partners to work towards an improvement in conviction rates in sexual offences.
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