Rape victims should be given free legal support to stop ‘excessive’ personal information requests, commissioner warns

Dame Vera Baird says survey of rape complainants found only one in seven felt reporting could result in justice being secured

Dame Vera Baird QC is Victims Commissioner for England and Wales and previously served as the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria Police

Rape victims should be given free legal support to stop them being subjected to “excessive” requests for personal information from the police or courts under the government’s planned ‘Victims’ Law’, the Victims Commissioner has warned.

Dame Vera Baird QC, commissioner for England and Wales, has released a report detailing a series of key recommendations for the legislation in a bid for victims to be treated as “participants” rather than “bystanders” within the criminal justice system.

She told The Independent the justice system can be “challenging” and “distressing” for vulnerable victims – especially if they have experienced “serious sexual or violent assault”.

Dame Baird added: “As Victims’ Commissioner and in my previous role as police and crime commissioner, I have been approached by victims distressed at wide-ranging and deeply intrusive demands by police and prosecutors to access their personal data when they make a complaint of rape or sexual assault.

“If we are to restore victims’ confidence in the justice system, rape complainants must have protections so that the right balance of their rights and those of the defendant can be struck. I believe it is therefore crucial that victims receive legal advice which could protect them from undue interference in their right to privacy.”

She noted her recent survey of rape complainants discovered only around one in seven said they felt reporting could result in justice being secured.

Dame Baird is now calling for rape victims to have a statutory right to get free and independent legal support if “undue” data requests by police officers, prosecutors or the courts infringe a victims’ right to privacy.

The proposal comes after a watchdog last year found police were taking “excessive amounts of personal data” from rape victims’ phones while campaigners have warned complainants have chosen not to continue with legal proceedings due to the invasive measures.

Dame Baird is also calling for the legislation, which the government has said it will consult on later in 2021, to force the police and Crown Prosecution Service to inform a victim of details of investigations and the progress they are making with it. This would include getting their perspective on changing or dropping charges.

She is also demanding the courts fork out court-ordered compensation which results in the offender reimbursing Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service rather than the victim, as well as also calling for a “single unified victims’ complaints system”.

Dame Baird added: “We know victim confidence in our criminal justice system is in sharp decline. More and more victims are withdrawing their support for prosecutions.

“Superficial changes are not enough if we are to reverse this downward trend. To regain the trust of victims, we urgently need a change of culture in how the justice system treats them.

“All too often, victim entitlements are not being delivered and the paucity of data collected on victims and their entitlements make it impossible to hold criminal justice agencies to account.”

Dame Baird, whose report sets out 34 recommendations for the government, said the law could be a “once in a generation, landmark piece of legislation”.

She added: “Which could truly transform the victim’s experience of the justice system. To achieve this, the government must have the ambition and determination to make it truly transformative.

“Acknowledging the true position of victims as active and valued participants in the criminal justice process is key if we are to reverse falling victim confidence in our justice system.”

A government spokesperson said the new Victims’ Code boosts victims’ rights at “every stage of the justice process”.

They added: “But we plan to go further, strengthening and enshrining these rights in a new Victims’ Law on which we will consult later this year.

“We are also investing millions in vital support services, recruiting more independent sexual and domestic abuse advisers, and reviewing the entire response to rape to build back confidence in the justice system.”