Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will undertake a review of whether serious child sexual abuse prosecutions should be given priority listing where there is evidence that a defendant may become medically unfit to stand trial before proceedings are concluded.

Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, listing is a judicial responsibility. The judiciary have introduced a new National Listing Framework, implemented through their Practice Direction on Listing in the Criminal Courts which came into effect on 1 October. This framework puts the human impact of delays at the heart of the decisions that the court makes regarding listing. In assessing this impact, the court must have regard to:

• The seriousness of the offence;
• Whether a defendant has been remanded in custody;
• Whether any victim, witness or defendant is a child or otherwise vulnerable or requires accommodations;
• The extent to which delay is likely to adversely affect the safety, wellbeing or recovery of any victim, witness or defendant;
• The extent to which delay will adversely affect the quality of evidence; and
• Any other circumstance likely to increase the human impact of delay.

The changes mean that all cases involving sexual offending will be prioritised across England and Wales.