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Cost should not be a barrier to justice

Justice should not have a price tag.

Survivors who have had damaging experiences in court have the right to complain about how they have been treated during their case. But as Ellie Wilson’s case shows, survivors can be left with a massive bill, simply for seeking justice.

This is a huge barrier to fully accessing justice for sexual violence cases in Scotland.

This is because court transcripts are needed to pursue complaints. Currently, survivors must pay for these transcripts to be completed. This cost can mount up to thousands of pounds.

Ellie submitted a complaint about the way she was treated throughout her case by her perpetrator’s defence lawyer.

Ellie said “I contacted the courts and was told there would be a fee of £97 an hour for every hour of court proceedings to be transcribed. This would total approximately £3,000 for the trial, which I cannot afford.”

“This feels like a significant barrier to justice and accountability in the legal profession, reserved for only those who can afford it. How can we hold malpractice to account if we cannot access the evidence we need to prove complaints?”

Thanks to the testimony and campaigning work of survivors, the Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee has been raising this issue with the Cabinet Secretary.

On 15 November, the convenor of the Committee wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans Keith Brown to ask him to confirm whether the Scottish Government plans to make accessing court transcripts free.

We very much hope that the Scottish Government confirms it will make this access free so that cost is no longer a factor in accessing justice.

It’s thanks to survivors like Hannah who raised this issue with the Criminal Justice Committee and like Ellie who have shared their experiences that this issue is being brought to the attention of decision makers.

Sandy Brindley, Chief Executive of Rape Crisis Scotland said: “It’s simply unacceptable for survivors to be asked to pay any amount of money simply for accessing the justice they are entitled to, never mind when this sum is in the thousands. This puts justice justice out of reach for so many survivors. We need to see swift action on this.”