Rape and sex crime victims face a game of “Russian roulette” in Britain’s broken justice system with more than 10,000 prosecutions stuck in a courts backlog, campaigners said today.
Ministers have been accused by Britain’s most senior judge of downgrading criminal justice to “just another service”, as the Government comes under pressure to commit to long-term increased investment in the ailing courts.
Latest Ministry of Justice data shows 2,210 rape cases are in the 63,000-strong crown court backlog waiting to be heard, together with 8,741 cases involving other sexual offences.
In one of those cases, an NHS worker told the Evening Standard how she is enduring a five-year wait to give evidence against a man she accuses of rape.
“I feel like the government and the courts are playing ‘Russian Roulette’ with me as a victim of sexual violence - and public protection at large - whereby each postponement in the courts system is another spin of the cylinder”, she said.
The trial – at which she will be the central witness for the prosecution – was due to take place this year, four years from her initial report to police. However devastatingly it was then delayed for another year due to the courts backlog.
She said “despair and fatigue” affect friends, family, and colleagues, leading to “hopelessness” which “becomes impossible for people to endure”.
“I just want to be able to get back to ‘normal life’ seeing my patients and helping people in the community. I wish something could be done to help fix this problem.
“I am just really scared that despite reporting this crime immediately, I will learn that my rape case cannot be prosecuted now, if ever, and that all the time and trouble I have put those who support and care for me through for the last 4-5 years will have been a waste of time and an unnecessary burden upon them all.
“This will also mean that I can never feel safe again.”
Giving evidence to Parliament, director of public prosecutions Max Hill said about a fifth of rape cases were collapsing after charges were brought, telling MPs: “I think it is too high.”
He highlighted Snaresbrook crown court, where the top judge has issued orders for rape trials to be prioritised as it deals with its own backlog of a staggering 4,500 cases.
Speaking to the House of Lords last month, Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett suggested courts had been “downgraded” amid widespread problems in justice, and accused Treasury officials of failing to look beyond “the immediate balance sheet”.
“The way government seems to work is to see the administration of justice as just another service, and it is not,” he said, delivering a plea for long-term funding deals and justice prioritised alongside health and education.
“It is not another service. It is something which underpins everything that goes on in society.”
Latest ministry data shows that in the first three months of this year, more than 400 crown court trials could not take place because there was no prosecutor, defence counsel or judge.
Since the start of 2022, almost 200 trials were aborted because there was no judge available, and a further 1,563 trials could not take place because there was not enough court space. In London, the crown court backlog is more than 15,000 cases —almost a quarter of the entire total for England and Wales.
That translates into record-breaking delays: an average of 653 days between a crime being reported in London and the end of the criminal justice process. In rape cases, that average figure is more than three years.
In evidence this week to MPs, Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk insisted rape cases should be given fixed dates for trials to minimise delays and the impact on victims. “You have got vulnerable victims and I hope and expect there to be a fixture in those cases, so they are not gearing themselves up for the trial on a Monday, only to find ‘hang on, it’s a floater, and it’s been stood out for a month’s time’,” he said.
This month, the Government announced an overhaul of the investigation of rape and more support for victims.
Mr Chalk hailed increased charging rates after rape allegations and claimed “significant progress” had been made. But campaigners accused him of being “too quick to say that they’ve tangibly changed the justice system for rape survivors”.
Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “The majority of rape survivors don’t report to the police, and the majority who do will leave the system altogether due to the barriers to justice they find themselves up against.”
The delays in justice are felt across the spectrum of criminal cases beyond rape and sex crimes. Harriet Salvesen-Sawh, a personal injury solicitor at law firm Fieldfisher, told the Standard of the “devastation” suffered by road crash victims who endure years of delays while waiting for justice in the criminal courts, and in some cases they are denied immediate access to compensation to fund their rehabilitation.
The trial of a driver who left a man with severe brain injuries following a July 2021 road crash was set to take place last month at Woolwich crown court. But at the last minute, it was adjourned for almost a year because there was no courtroom or judge available to hear the four-day case.
“I was actually astounded”, said Ms Salvesen-Sawh, who then had to explain the situation to the “devastated” victim.
The lawyer said a woman who had to have a leg amputated after a road crash in August 2020 is still awaiting a criminal trial, now set for November this year.
Civil lawyers pursuing compensation for the victims are denied access to key witness statements, CCTV, and expert evidence while criminal cases are ongoing.
In some cases, clients cannot receive any interim payments for rehabilitation if there is doubt over who is to blame for the crash.
“There’s a little bit of disbelief that it can actually take this long”, said Ms Salvesen-Sawh.
“For them, a lot of their closure comes in the criminal process. They can close that particular chapter and start to look forward to more of a focus on recovery and rehabilitation. But things hang over them for so long.”
The Ministry of Justice is in the midst of a recruitment drive to add up to 1,000 judges, while unlimited court sitting days have been allowed in the last two years to deal with as many cases as possible.
“Our justice system is of the upmost importance in upholding the values of our great country — the rule of law, the right to a fair trial and justice for victims,” a spokesman said.
“This Government is investing hundreds of millions to speed up justice and improve waiting times for victims.”
