Criminal Justice Committee 02 April 2025
You may remember that, in relation to a previous set of my amendments, I said that the same approach could be achieved by having a sexual offences division of the High Court and a sexual offences division of the sheriff court, rather than creating a new court. Rape, for example, would therefore be tried in the sexual offences division, if you like. There would still be fundamental change, but a new court would not be created. My fear is that there will be a lot of cost and bureaucracy in creating something that we could do without and which could be created without legislation, as was done with the drugs courts and the domestic offences courts.
Amendment 69 relates to a separate point. At the moment, murder—being a plea of the Crown—can be tried only in the High Court. I wish that to remain the case for the reasons that I outlined. I am arguing that, if there is to be trauma-informed practice, which I presume would involve training for judges and practitioners in the sexual offences court, the same people could also sit in the High Court. A High Court judge sitting in the sexual offences court would have to be trauma informed, as would the practitioners; however, the same people could sit or practise in the High Court. Therefore, the trauma-informed argument is not really solid. Do you follow me?