Meeting of the Parliament 23 April 2024
Getting the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill to this stage has been a marathon. As a member of the Criminal Justice Committee, I too thank our wonderful team of clerks and researchers, and our convener, Audrey Nicoll, for steering us through so skilfully to get us to where we are today.
The committee is agreed on the aim of the bill, which is to improve the justice journey for victims and witnesses and to ensure that victims of sexual and gender-based abuse are supported in a trauma-informed way when they are at their most vulnerable.
The testimony that we heard from survivors of sexual abuse was shocking and disturbing. At its outset, our stage 1 report highlights quotations that powerfully illustrate the need for the bill. Hannah McLaughlan said:
“Survivors endure trauma as a result of the abuse that they go through, but, having come through the justice system, I would say that I endured trauma not only from my abuser but from the system that is supposed to provide me with justice. That is not acceptable”.
Ellie Wilson said:
“Survivors of sexual abuse have already had their agency stripped from them, yet they partake in a criminal justice system that further strips it from them. We are treated like outsiders throughout the process.”
Another witness said that she felt as if she was “missing” during the process. Another said that she was so traumatised that she could not remember her name in the witness box. I could fill my contribution with quotes such as those, each one powerful and heartbreaking.
Last week, a report by HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland claimed that Scotland’s prosecution service is failing victims in domestic abuse cases. The report concluded that better communication with survivors is needed and recommended a more victim-centred approach. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has said that it “profoundly regrets” that it has not always got communication with victims right.
The aim is clear, and doing nothing is not an option. That is the view of the Lord Advocate and of the Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian, whose review initiated the bill.
As we have heard, the bill is split into several parts. It is hard to do justice to all these huge issues in a short speech, therefore much detail will inevitably be missed in my contribution, but it can be found in our stage 1 report.