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Courts need more cash or they will be ‘crippled’ by new rape review cases

Tristan Kirk Courts Correspondent

LONDON’S courts could be “crippled” by a wave of new prosecutions from the government’s review of rape allegations without urgent long-term investment, the Justice Secretary has been told.

Claire Waxman, the Independent Victims’ Commissioner for London, warned that the capital’s courts and the availability of lawyers and judges could be overwhelmed by a surge in new cases.

In a letter to Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, which has been seen by the Standard, Ms Waxman said rape and serious sexual offence complainants could be left “waiting years for a day in court” as she pushed for long-term investment and extra Nightingale court capacity.

She said London had been “disproportionately impacted” by the criminal justice crisis as around 60,000 cases were in the national backlog while victims, defendants, and witnesses endured lengthy delays.

Ms Waxman, who was appointed by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to represent the interests of victims in 2017, voiced concerns that significant investment from Government in justice was “short-term”.

In last month’s budget, £477 million was pledged to bring the criminal justice backlog down to 53,000 by 2024/25.

The Government has committed to unlimited judicial sitting days this year to try to tackle the mountain of cases but efforts have been hampered by a shortage of judges and difficulties finding lawyers to cover hearings.

“London is disproportionately impacted and in desperate need of innovative solutions,” Ms Waxman told the Justice Secretary. “I have heard from numerous victims who are facing long, agonising waits for trial and are at risk of withdrawing from the justice process as a result. The Crown Prosecution Service in London have advised me that judicial capacity is a particular challenge and London’s courts are not operating anywhere near capacity as a result.”

The Government’s end-to-end Rape Review this summer brought a promise to examine so-called “legacy” cases in the system where a charging decision has not yet been made.

Ms Waxman warned that an influx of prosecutions as a result of the review “will cripple both prosecutor and court capacity and I am not aware of any contingency plans in place to avoid these victims waiting years for a day in court”.

She added: “In London we are also facing the possibility of potentially dangerous offenders being released back to the community due to custody time limits running out, while defendants await trial.”

The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.

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2021-11-26T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-26T08:00:00.0000000Z

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