Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Magistrates Association and Family Division of the High Court on the potential merits of providing training to judges on implementing (a) a ban on cross examination of domestic abuse survivors in court and (b) special measures for victims of abuse as set out in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

To preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lord Chief Justice (LCJ), the Senior President of the Tribunals, and the Chief Coroner have statutory responsibility for judicial training, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 respectively. These responsibilities are exercised through the Judicial College. The judiciary with support of the professional staff, in the Judicial College are responsible for the design, content, and delivery of judicial training.

I understand that, since April 2021, the Chair of the Judicial College, in consultation with the President of the Family Division, has led work to review judicial training on domestic abuse. Refreshed and updated specialist digital training on domestic abuse was launched in October 2021 for all family judges, including Recorders and Deputy District Judges. New digital domestic abuse training to meet the needs of magistrates and legal advisers was also launched in October.

New training that addresses the Domestic Abuse Act will be rolled out from April 2022 and will form a substantial part of compulsory family and civil continuation training seminars for the 2022/23 training year.