Key Facts

• The Secretary of State must commission independent review [6D [K reviews on racial disproportionality and differential impacts.
• Amendment [9D [K Amendments require publication of the Government's response to Part II of t [1D [K the Independent Review of Criminal Courts before certain sections can be im [2D [K implemented.
• Amendment ensures Lord Chancellor provides funding for at l [1D [K least 130,000 sitting days in the Crown Court.
• HMCTS must assess that th [2D [K the allocated sitting days are used effectively.
• The Lord Chancellor mus [3D [K must consult on potential benefits of extended sitting hours in the Crown C [1D [K Court.
• New clause 32 introduces a duty to commission an independ [8D [K independent review of racial disproportionality.
• New clause 33 mandates [K an independent review of disproportionate impacts on particular classes of [K people.
• The Government announced a £92 million investment in criminal le [2D [K legal aid.
• Joint enterprise laws have been used wrongly for the past thr [3D [K three decades, impacting marginalised and vulnerable communities.
• Annual [6D [K Annually, nearly £250 million is spent on prosecuting defendants in joint e [1D [K enterprise cases each year costing taxpayers £1.2 billion.
• The Lord Chancellor would be required to set and publish [K targets for reducing court backlogs under new clause 5.
• Sir Brian Leveso [6D [K Leveson's recommendations include establishing a performance oversight boar [4D [K board to monitor local criminal justice boards.
• A blitz courts model has [3D [K has been operational in London since April, focusing on aggressive listing [K of assault against emergency worker cases.
• The government plans to expand case-progression functions [9D [K functions and introduce case co-ordinators in every Crown court.
• The Min [3D [K Minister argues for a realistic approach to efficiency gains, setting an ex [2D [K expectation of no more than a 5% annual increase.
• Structural reforms inc [3D [K include reallocating work from the Crown court to the magistrates' court wh [2D [K where cases can be handled more promptly and appropriately.
• The Lord Chancellor must lay an independent report before [6D [K before Parliament within 12 months.
• The report will assess the feasibili [9D [K feasibility of conducting two trials per day in designated courtrooms, incl [4D [K including impact on efficiency, resources, and users.
• Annual targets for [3D [K for reducing the Crown Court backlog must be set within six months of passi [5D [K passing this Act.
• New clause 7 would require the Lord Chancellor to lay bef [3D [K before Parliament a strategy within six months of passing the Act.
• Victi [5D [K Victim-led case management is aimed at prioritising victims' experiences in [2D [K in criminal court proceedings.
• The Government has launched consultations [13D [K consultations and published statutory guidance on support for victims, incl [4D [K including independent legal adviser services for rape victims.
• Over £500 [4D [K £500 billion worth of investment has been made by the Government in victim [K support services.
• New Clause 8 requires judiciary members to receive traini [6D [K training on discrimination against ethnic minorities.
• New Clause 9 propo [5D [K proposes mandatory training for the judiciary on violence against women and [3D [K and girls, including domestic abuse, sexual violence, coercive control, and [3D [K and honour-based abuse.
• New Clause 10 mandates training for judges on do [2D [K domestic abuse dynamics and best practices in managing such cases.
• New clause 8 focuses on discrimination against ethnic min [3D [K minorities.
• New clause 9 requires training for judges on violence agains [6D [K against women and girls.
• New clause 10 mandates training for judges on d [1D [K domestic abuse.
• New clause 30 aims to ensure all court staff in the crim [4D [K criminal justice system receive mandatory trauma-informed training.
• Training is extended to judges and relevant court staff e [1D [K employed by HMCTS.
• The Minister plans to observe mandatory training on r [1D [K rape and serious sexual offences for specialist ticketed judges.
• Judges [K must undergo top-up training every three years.
• Professor Katrin Hohl pr [2D [K provided feedback on the content of the training, particularly focusing on [K RASSO (rape and serious sexual offences).
• New Clause 9 proposes training [8D [K training requirements for violence against women and girls, including domes [5D [K domestic abuse and coercive control.
• New Clause 10 suggests similar trai [4D [K training specifically for matters related to domestic abuse.
• Victims shall be entitled to receive court transcripts wi [2D [K without charge.
• Transcripts must be provided within 14 days of a request [7D [K request.
• The right applies irrespective of whether the victim testified [K in the case.
• The government is exploring how responsibilities under th [2D [K the victims code are being met by service providers.
• The Victims and Pri [3D [K Prisoners Act 2024 will introduce a compliance framework for criminal justi [5D [K justice bodies to review their performance against the code.
• An AI study [5D [K study is underway to make court transcription more cost-effective.
• The Lord Chancellor must lay before Parliament a report a [1D [K assessing the effectiveness of sections 1 to 7 within 24 months.
• The new [3D [K new clause introduces a sunset clause requiring sections 1 to 7 to expire t [1D [K three months after the court backlog has been below pre-pandemic levels for [3D [K for four consecutive reporting periods as calculated by HM Courts and Tribu [5D [K Tribunals Service.
• The proposal seeks to limit curtailment of jury trial rig [3D [K rights during periods of backlog.
• Sunset clauses have historical precede [7D [K precedent since at least 1500, serving as a safeguard for democracy and ens [3D [K ensuring parliamentary oversight.
• Examples include the Terrorism Act 200 [3D [K 2006, UK Coronavirus Act 2020 with a two-year sunset clause.
• The new clause requires a formal strategy within 12 month [5D [K months after the Act's passing.
• Reports must be laid before Parliament e [1D [K every 24 months following the initial strategy laying.
• 'Remote proceedin [9D [K proceedings' means any proceedings with one or more participants attending [K via live video or audio link.
• The new clause requires a report on the effect of the Bil [3D [K Bill's provisions on rape and serious sexual offences cases within twelve m [1D [K months.
• Sections 1 to 7 of the Act expire three months after the number [K of cases awaiting trial in the Crown Court has been below pre-pandemic leve [4D [K levels for four consecutive quarterly reporting periods.
• A specialist se [2D [K sexual offences court is proposed at each Crown Court location in England a [1D [K and Wales, with independent support advisers available to victims.
• The unduly lenient sentence (ULS) scheme exists to allow [K review by the Court of Appeal.
• About 47% of appeals against sentences fr [2D [K from magistrates courts result in a change.
• Schedule 2 introduces reform [6D [K reforms for mandatory audio recording and provision of transcripts in magis [5D [K magistrates court proceedings.
• The ULS scheme applies only to offences passed in the Cro [3D [K Crown court.
• In 2025, around 1,500 cases were assessed by the Office of [K the Attorney General.
• The Law Commission is reviewing criminal appeals a [1D [K and will publish a report on reforms to the ULS scheme in autumn 2026.
• New Clause 35 aims to re-establish His Majesty’s Inspecto [8D [K Inspectorate of Criminal Court Administration.
• The inspectorate would in [2D [K inspect and report on the administration and operation of criminal courts, [K focusing on victims' and witnesses' experiences.
• Sir Brian Leveson recom [5D [K recommended the re-establishment of a courts inspectorate as part of his in [2D [K independent review.
• Clause 21 allows the Secretary of State to make consequen [9D [K consequential amendments.
• Clause 22 creates a power for transitional or [K saving provisions by regulation.
• Clause 23 amends the Sentencing Act 202 [3D [K 2020 through regulations.
• Clause 24 permits statutory instrument regulat [7D [K regulations under the Bill's delegated powers.
• The measures apply primar [6D [K primarily to England and Wales, with exceptions for UK-wide extent in certa [5D [K certain areas.
• The Welsh system feels it has been unfairly caught up in [K the reforms.
• Clause 25 is about the territorial extent of the Bill.
• T [1D [K The Circuit Leaders from Wales and Chester submitted evidence.