Victims and Courts Bill 2025-05-20

Welcomes the Bill's measures, particularly those forcing offenders to attend sentencing hearings. Mentions a constituent case where an offender refused to attend court, causing distress to her family.

Raises concerns about the reluctance of service providers to give therapeutic services due to potential use in legal cases. Asks for assurance that medical records will not be used against victims.

Welcomed the inclusion of extending the measure to local authorities and social housing providers, emphasising its importance for fully representing victims of antisocial behaviour.

Asked if communication is key and whether the Bill goes far enough in ensuring an obligation to communicate with victims. Also enquired about the application of the legislation to Northern Ireland, receiving confirmation that matters are devolved there.

Welcomed the speech and its relevance to constituents suffering from antisocial behaviour in Reading town centre. Highlighted widespread support for the measures across the House.

Emphasised the need to ensure that antisocial behaviour is not dismissed as low-level crime, stressing that victims must be put at the forefront of the justice system.

Supports the Bill's intent but raises concerns about the practical implementation. Criticises the lack of full body armour for prison officers, the legal threshold of 'reasonable force', and the Bill's inability to address parental responsibility in cases where offenders abuse children not their own. Proposes extending victim application windows for unduly lenient sentences and enhancing transparency on court backlogs.

Agrees with Robert Jenrick that using 'reasonable force' might lead to claims against the Lord Chancellor, advocating instead for the threshold of 'grossly disproportionate'.

Welcomes measures in the Bill but acknowledges the difficult task set by previous Government's underinvestment. Emphasises provisions for attendance at sentencing hearings, restricting parental responsibility of convicted offenders, expanding victims' rights, empowering Victims’ Commissioner, increasing flexibility in Crown prosecutor appointments, regulating private prosecutions costs, and unduly lenient sentence reforms.

Supports the Bill's efforts to address parental responsibility of convicted child sex offenders and welcomes proposed victims’ helpline. Agrees with strengthened powers for Victims' Commissioner, defendants participating in sentencing hearings for rehabilitation.

The Liberal Democrats support the Bill while challenging the Government to address serious omissions that leave victims without necessary protections. They highlighted issues such as the lack of a specific identifier for domestic abuse perpetrators in criminal justice, the need for fair access to court transcripts, national insurance contributions, family courts measures against parental alienation proceedings used by abusers, and court backlogs.

Collins echoed Tessa Munt's concerns regarding the need for robust measures to identify domestic abuse perpetrators. She also highlighted the importance of ensuring victims have access to court transcripts through permanent implementation of pilot schemes, emphasising effective communication with victims.

Babarinde supported Tessa Munt's position and called for audiovisual records of court proceedings to be made available to victims. He shared an example of a mother denied access to video evidence of her son’s traumatic experience, advocating for broader victim rights.

Midgley spoke about Olivia's law, requiring convicted offenders to attend their sentencing hearings. She read out a victim impact statement by Cheryl Korbel whose daughter was murdered by a stranger who refused to face the court.

The hon. Member for South Northamptonshire welcomed provisions in the Bill that provide better information for victims of crime, emphasising the importance of restoring trust and confidence in the justice system, and highlighting a constituent's case where early release from open prison was distressing.

The hon. Member for Heywood and Middleton North acknowledged the challenges faced by her constituency in dealing with crime and antisocial behaviour, supporting measures to strengthen support for victims and hold perpetrators accountable, including provisions related to child sexual abuse and parental responsibility restrictions.

The hon. Member for Richmond Park expressed disappointment over the absence of court transcripts provision in the Bill, stressing the need for victims and survivors to have free access to copies of their sentencing remarks for clarity and closure.

The MP highlights the need for a full legal duty of candour on public officials, citing Hillsborough and other tragedies where families have suffered due to lack of transparency. She calls for a national oversight mechanism to ensure preventable deaths are addressed and lessons learned.

The Liberal Democrat MP supports the Bill as an important step but emphasises the need for further government action on the criminal justice system. She raises concerns about early release schemes for domestic abuse offenders, highlighting a case where victims felt threatened after perpetrators were released.

The MP acknowledges the Bill's aim to strengthen the justice system by shifting power towards survivors. He criticises previous government failures and praises new measures such as requiring offenders to attend sentencing hearings and extending sentences for non-compliance.

Welcoming the expanded victim contact scheme and helpline, she expresses concern over whether current costings will be sufficient given the workload crisis in the Probation Service. She calls for additional resources to support these measures effectively.

Called on the Government to seek personnel in the criminal justice system who can operate in Welsh and English. Recommended devolving the entire criminal justice system in Wales for better focus on victim support, advocating a victims’ commissioner for Wales.

Suggested three ways to improve the Bill: limiting bad character evidence against rape victims, recognising coercive control as abuse, and reducing the cost of person at risk of violence orders for domestic abuse survivors.

Described a tragic case involving domestic abuse leading to child deaths. Urged reforming presumption of contact in law, ending unsupervised access where there is evidence of danger.

Emphasised the need for a justice system that addresses trauma faced by victims and supports child sexual abuse survivors. Supported extending the time limit for reviewing unduly lenient sentences, proposed automatic restriction of parental responsibility for child sex offenders.

Discussed the importance of organisations like Rape Crisis in supporting sexual abuse survivors and suggested Government oversight for funding such services under the Bill.

What does my hon. Friend say to a police and crime commissioner who does not fund sexual abuse support services in Milton Keynes? I believe that all police and crime commissioners ought to fund those services.

This Bill needs to include a statutory duty to commission specialist domestic abuse and sexual violence services based in the community for both adult and child victims. It also requires support for third-party victims such as parents and carers of victims of serious crimes.

I am proud to support the Bill which empowers judges, removes parental rights from child sex offenders, gives power to the Victims’ Commissioner, and speeds up justice. However, it needs to go further by changing evidence standards in courtrooms and strengthening protections for children of abusers.

This Bill is an important step towards restoring the principle that justice is not just about punishing offenders but also standing up for victims. It needs to go further by allowing audiovisual recording of sentencing, granting victims a statutory right to be kept informed, and extending time limits for sentencing reviews.

Supports the Bill, welcoming its provisions to strengthen the powers of the Victims’ Commissioner, allow judges to impose sanctions on offenders who refuse to attend hearings, and place a duty on local authorities and social housing providers to cooperate with the Victims' Commissioner on antisocial behaviour. The speaker argues that victims need better support from various agencies and commends Labour for fixing the mess left by previous governments.

Supports the Bill, citing examples of constituents who have suffered due to the current system. The speaker highlights measures in the bill such as empowering victims, requiring alleged perpetrators to attend court hearings, and restricting automatic parental rights in cases of child sexual abuse. He also emphasises the importance of addressing antisocial behaviour more effectively.

Supports the Bill, highlighting its provisions to empower the Victims' Commissioner and new powers for judges to compel offenders to attend sentencing hearings. The speaker also welcomes measures to remove legislative barriers that prevent qualified practitioners from being appointed as Crown prosecutors, thereby making the system more efficient and diverse.

Welcomes the intent behind the legislation but highlights concerns about the principle of requiring an offender's attendance fundamentally being driven by victims' wishes. The speaker calls for changes to ensure that justice is shaped by those it seeks to serve.

The MP welcomes the government's initiative to address parental rights removal from serious sexual offenders but criticises the current bill for being insufficient. He mentions a previous amendment in opposition that proposed broader measures, including applying to any child victims and setting lower thresholds. Mullan raises concerns about funding challenges for departments and advocates for improving victim information rights and extending time limits for unduly lenient sentence referrals. He supports amendments requiring more time for victims rather than the government.

The MP clarifies that the bill extends the period for consideration of unduly lenient sentences to 14 days, while victims would need longer. He questions why it's unreasonable to ask the government to table an amendment supporting extended time limits for victims.

The Liberal Democrat Member expressed appreciation for collaboration with the Minister on issues affecting victims. He acknowledged the upcoming meeting with Alex Davies-Jones to discuss work progress.

Cited the importance of making court transcripts available for rape and serious sexual offences cases, a pilot project set to conclude shortly. The Minister acknowledged her efforts in this area.

Asked about amendments during Bill passage that could see the family courts end the presumption of contact for child abuse cases, stressing the need to protect children from further harm.

Discussed the need for legislative measures to address domestic abuse and its impact on children within the family justice system. The Minister committed to publishing a review on parental involvement presumption soon.

Brought attention to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), urging for more robust legal measures and compensation reform. The Minister assured that these reforms are in progress.