Asked by: Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will introduce pre-trial hearings to determine the nature of cross-examination of victims and witnesses in crown court proceedings.
Answered by Mike Penning
This Government is committed to ensuring vulnerable victims and witnesses have access to high quality, effective and timely support.
The value of pre-trial ground rules is increasingly being recognised and closely links with measures that my Department is implementing to improve the experience of victims and witnesses. These include giving greater opportunity to give evidence away from the court room and, subject to evaluation of the pilot, roll-out of recorded pre-trial cross-examination.
In reviewing how to reduce the distress experienced by vulnerable victims and witnesses in sexual violence cases tried in the Crown Court, we identified that the scope and use of Ground Rules Hearings could be widened.
The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee has agreed amendments to the criminal procedure rules which will encourage use of ground rules to facilitate participation of witnesses (including defendants) in trials. These changes take effect from 6 April 2015. The rules will provide that directions can be given for the appropriate treatment and questioning of a witness, especially where the court directs that such questioning is to be conducted through an intermediary, and list things the court should do where directions for appropriate treatment and questioning are required.
Asked by: Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve communication between civil, family and criminal courts.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
HM Courts & Tribunals Service’s regional structure encourages staff to review and improve internal processes and communication. This promotes the sharing of information and best practice across the three jurisdictions. Internal communications channels ensure that staff in all jurisdictions receive and share the same information.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service is committed to providing an efficient and effective service to users at all of its courts and tribunals.
The Government pledged in “Our Commitment to Victims” to ensure that victims’ needs are at the forefront of our plans to modernise the courts.
In particular, the Government implemented a new Code of Practice for Victims of Crime on 10th December 2013. The Victims’ Code outlines the minimum entitlements every victim of crime must expect to receive from Criminal Justice System partners.
Asked by: Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many forms or documents need to be completed by people applying for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
Answered by Mike Penning
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington on 2 March 2015. This can be found on the Parliament.uk website here:
Asked by: Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of stalking or harassment have reported being the subject of vexatious civil or family court applications in each of the last five years.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does not record the number of applications to the civil and family courts which are deemed to be vexatious. However, HMCTS does record the number of ‘totally without merit’ orders that are made following an application being deemed as totally without merit. The data provided in this answer relates to orders made when applications are deemed to be totally without merit.
HMCTS maintains a national database which lists all civil and family totally without merit orders. The retention period for entries on the database is three years and therefore only data relating to this period is set out in the table below. In addition, the orders may relate to multiple applications and therefore the volume of orders will not necessarily represent the number of applications received by HMCTS.
Table One: Totally without merit orders made in the last three years[1]
Time period | Number of Totally Without Merit Orders made |
1 March 2012 – 28 February 2013 | 2080 |
1 March 2013 – 28 February 2014 | 3004 |
1 March 2014 – 28 February 2015 | 1495 |
HMCTS does not record the number of victims that have reported vexatious applications or the nature of proceedings, including whether they relate to stalking or harassment. In order to provide the information HMCTS would have to manually review each file that relates to stalking and harassment claims. This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
[1] This data is internal HMCTS management information and it is not subject to the same level of checking as Official Statistics.
Asked by: Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people (a) applied for and (b) were granted compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014.
Answered by Mike Penning
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington on 2 March 2015. This can be found on the Parliament.uk website here:
Asked by: Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many local authority areas restorative justice is available for victims of crime; and how many victims accessed this service in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Government is committed to ensuring that good quality, victim-focused restorative justice is available at all stages of the criminal justice system so that, where appropriate, victims can access it at a time that is right for them.
The Government has provided funding to Police and Crime Commissioners to build capacity and capability and commission restorative justice services for victims as part of the wider grant for victim services.
Information about the numbers of victims who access restorative justice services is not collated centrally.
Asked by: Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) Crown and (b) magistrates' courts supply discrete waiting areas for victims and witnesses.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Government pledged in “Our Commitment to Victims” to consider the needs of victims and witnesses as we reform the court system. This will include upgrading facilities such as separate waiting areas.
All Crown Court Centres have separate waiting facilities for victims and witnesses.
97% of magistrates’ courts have some kind of separate witness waiting facility.[1] For those courts that do not have this facility, special arrangements are put in place with advance notice.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service uses information about victims and witnesses in criminal cases to ensure that individual trials are managed effectively and victims and witnesses are not kept waiting around unnecessarily to give their evidence. We do not, however, hold data on the number of victims and witnesses choosing to use the discrete waiting areas.
[1] Her Majesty’s Court Service Annual Report and Accounts 2009-2010
http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/hmcs/annual-reports/HMCS-Annual-Report2009-2010-web.pdf?type=Finjan-Download&slot=000000A2&id=000000A1&location=0A64020C
Asked by: Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many cases where a suspect had been charged in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 their trial began after more than (i) six and (ii) 12 months.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has two separate case management systems, LIBRA in the magistrates’ courts, and CREST in the Crown Court. The date of charge and date of trial are recorded in LIBRA, but the date of charge is not always recorded on CREST. Also, as a number of cases charged during this period are yet to enter a plea, it is not possible to identify how many will have a trial, or at what point. A number of offences charged during 2014 will not yet have reached six or twelve months since receipt by HMCTS.
The Ministry of Justice does, however, publish official statistics on the timeliness of criminal cases in Criminal Courts Statistics Quarterly at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics.
Asked by: Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce delays in criminal proceedings in courts in England and Wales.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
I refer the right hon Member to the reply given to the hon Member for Hayes and Harlington on 27 February (PQ224446), which can be viewed at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=QuestionsWithAnswersOnly&house=commons%2clords&use-dates=True&answered-from=2015-02-27&answered-to=2015-02-27&uin=224446.
Asked by: Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, in how many cases since the introduction of the Victims' Right to Review Scheme have the Crown Prosecution Service changed a decision following a victim's request for a review.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)’s Victims’ Right to Review scheme came into effect on 5 June 2013. Between the date the scheme commenced and 31 December 2014, the CPS has reviewed 2,423 appeals of which 315 (13.0%) were upheld.
The number of decisions overturned represents a very small fraction of all the decisions made by CPS lawyers. During the period from 1 June 2013 to 31 December 2014, the CPS finalised 198,786 cases with a qualifying decision. This means that approximately 0.16% of cases that would qualify under the scheme resulted in an upheld Appeal.