Transparency data

Victims' Commissioner: 21 February 2024

Published 30 April 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-disclosure-and-fraud-offences-meeting-minutes/victims-commissioner-21-february-2024

Introduction

The Chair of the Review, Jonathan Fisher KC, summarised the terms of reference and explained the scope of the Review.

Discussion

Third Party Disclosure

1. Regarding rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO) cases, it was noted that there was a particular difficulty in securing access to third party material in courts, often due to data protection concerns. It was highlighted that amendments to the Victims and Prisoners Bill[footnote 1] aim to provide greater clarity on what the police should consider when seeking to obtain to third party material about a victim[footnote 2]. The Government is seeking an opinion from the Law Commission to try and strike the appropriate balance.

2. The discussion detailed that police attempt to use third party material to test the reliability of the victim and it was felt that this was too great an intrusion into their privacy and can impact a complainant’s willingness to report a crime. Currently, informed consent is taken from victims before accessing their phones, but the Victims’ Commissioner is seeking to extend that to third party materials such as medical records, school records etc.

Impact on Victims

3. Discussing the impact on victims, an emphasis was placed not only on the financial loss but the emotional toll. It was suggested that more needs to be done to increase victims’ confidence in the criminal justice system. This is compounded by the waiting times arising from court backlogs.

Data sharing

4. Regarding proposals on ‘keys to the warehouse, it was suggested that in RASSO cases victims might be reluctant to come forward, knowing that all unused material gathered in an investigation would be given to the defence team and therefore the defendant.

  1. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/victims-and-prisoners-bill/updates-in-the-draft-new-victims-code ↩

  2. Victim - Someone who has had a crime committed against them or someone who is the complainant in a case – Crown Prosecution Service, note on terminology.  ­ ↩

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