Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) accredited domestic abuse specialists and (b) other advocates his Department (i) has and (ii) plans to employ in the special advocates scheme provided for under section 65 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 to avoid perpetrator-victim cross examination in domestic abuse cases.

Sections 65 and 66 of the Act prohibit domestic abuse perpetrators from cross-examining their victims, and vice versa, and enables the court to appoint a ‘qualified legal representative’ (QLRs) to cross-examine on their behalf.

We have already had 385 QLRs register for the scheme and we will continue to register individuals on a rolling basis to ensure that a sufficient number of representatives are available as cases continue to come through.

We are also conducting a targeted communications campaign, working with representatives from the legal sector and senior judiciary to increase awareness of the scheme and encourage QLR applications.