Victims and Courts Bill

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

3rd reading
Tuesday 17th March 2026 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Baroness Levitt]

That the Bill be now read a third time.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Baroness Levitt) (Lab)]

My Lords, I will make a short statement on the position regarding legislative consent on this Bill. A legislative consent Motion was received from the Senedd on 24 February 2026. The amendments voted in by your Lordships’ House on Report engage the LCM process. Conversations are ongoing with the devolved Governments on how these amendments would apply to them. It has not been possible to complete this process before Third Reading. Amendments will be made if they decline to grant approval. The amendments on court transcripts are currently drafted to extend UK wide; we presume that this is an error and that the intention is that they should extend to England and Wales only, because they use terminology specific to this jurisdiction and that has been the focus of debates on this topic.

Clause 21: Commencement and transitional provision

Amendment 1

Moved by

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Sandhurst (Con)]

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords for their constructive engagement with this important Bill at every stage of its passage. On behalf of my noble and learned friend Lord Keen, I thank noble Lords for their contributions both in Committee and on Report. Although there were several areas of disagreement, we on these Benches believe that the Bill, as amended on Report, leaves this House as better legislation than when it entered.

I am particularly pleased that noble Lords across this House voted in favour of Amendments 16 and 20. Open and transparent justice is a fundamental principle: it underpins democracy and the rule of law. It is therefore only right that sentencing remarks, which explain judges’ reasoning for the sentences they impose, be made available to members of the public who are not present in court.

Equally, private prosecutions are an integral part of our justice system. Where the CPS is unwilling or unable to act, private prosecutions are a vital avenue for parties to get access to justice. In particular, many charities use private prosecutions to recover losses by theft and fraud. The removal of Clause 12 preserves the current system. Clause 12 would have created a state of uncertainty in the legal market. It would have had a detrimental effect on the availability of private prosecutions for those who need that service. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Marks, for his support on these points.

Amendment 1, in my name and that of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Keen, will remove a cross-reference to a clause that no longer stands part of the Bill.

I also commend the Liberal Democrats on their engagement with the Bill. It was pleasing to find areas of agreement during the Bill’s passage. I am grateful for their amendments on both notification and exceptional circumstances for unduly lenient sentence applications. I strongly urge the Government in the other place to recognise the importance of these reforms and to support all the amendments that passed on Report. Both of the amendments before us have the support of the Conservatives and of the Victims’ Commissioner.

Turning briefly to Amendment 29, it was disappointing that the Minister spoke against our opposition to the automatic release of sexual offenders and domestic abusers at the one-third point of their custodial sentences. If the Government are still committed to their manifesto pledge of halving violence against women and girls, the amendment deserves serious consideration. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, for her expression of support on this point. We, in turn, intend to return to this issue at a later date.

I remain grateful to all noble Lords for their contributions during the various stages of the Bill. I urge the Government to reflect carefully on the amendments relating to the publication of sentencing remarks, private prosecutions and the unduly lenient sentence scheme. I have no doubt that these issues will return to your Lordships’ House in due course. I beg to move Amendment 1.

[Baroness Levitt (Lab)]

My Lords, this is a minor and technical amendment following Report, and the Government will not oppose it today.

Amendment 1 agreed.

--- Later in debate ---

Moved by

[Baroness Levitt]

That the Bill do now pass.

[Baroness Levitt (Lab)]

The Bill represents a significant step forward in strengthening both the rights of victims and the way in which our courts operate. At its heart, it seeks to ensure that victims are treated with dignity, compassion and respect throughout the justice process, while ensuring that our courts are able to deliver justice more swiftly and effectively.

I thank all Members of your Lordships’ House who contributed during the debates; the officials for all their support during its passage; and all noble Lords who have given their time and expertise to scrutinising the Bill during its passage through your Lordships’ House and, through their engagement, have strengthened the Bill in the process.

I am especially grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, the noble Lord, Lord Marks, and the noble Earl, Lord Russell, for their support for and engagement on the key measures in the Bill. I look forward to continuing to work with them on the recent amendments regarding the unduly lenient sentencing scheme, court transcripts and support for victims of homicide abroad.

I also thank the noble and learned Lord, Lord Keen, and the noble Lord, Lord Sandhurst, for their informed, thoughtful interventions and the constructive challenges that they have put forward. I look forward to discussing further their recent amendments regarding court transcripts and private prosecutions.

I am grateful for the broad support for this Bill across the House, and I look forward to working on its implementation. I beg to move.

[Baroness Brinton (LD)]

My Lords, on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Benches, I am very grateful that the Conservatives have already expressed their thanks for the Bill. We echo that thanks. I welcome the very constructive engagement from all sides of the House. I particularly thank my noble friends Lord Marks and Lord Russell, with whom I have worked closely on victims’ issues for many years. I also thank the House more generally. The timely passage of this Bill is unusual, and I am very pleased that we were able to conduct our business in the time allocated and still come to the end of the Bill and feel that real progress has been made.

This is where I thank the Minister and all her officials because, despite the fact that a number of votes were won on Report—we look forward to continuing to work with her—many of the items we discussed in private between Committee and Report have been resolved to some extent or another. On behalf of all the groups and the individual victims who got in touch, not only now but in the run-up to the Bill, we are grateful for the progress that has been made. That does not mean, however, that everything is done; I and many others will continue to work on those particular issues. From our side, as has already been mentioned, we particularly want to see some movement on court transcripts, homicide abroad and unduly lenient sentences. We are very grateful for the discussions that are already beginning between now and ping-pong.

[Lord Russell of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, I rise briefly—conscious of my noble friend to my left—to pay tribute to the Minister for how she has handled her first Bill through your Lordships’ House with good humour and considerable judicial skill. It is always slightly challenging to put an amendment or an argument to a Minister when it is quite clear that she has understood exactly what you are trying to say and all the flaws in your argument before you have got past the first paragraph.

I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, for our working together so effectively. I also congratulate the Minister on the extraordinary achievement in having, on occasion, got the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties to be on speaking terms, let alone voting terms.

[Baroness Levitt (Lab)]

I thank all noble Lords.

Bill passed and returned to the Commons with amendments.