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Response to Updated Paper from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research
“We welcome this updated paper on court delays and the impact of these on victim-survivors of sexual crimes from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research. It adds growing weight to the calls for real, urgent action.
Before Covid we know that court delays were experienced as being very unpredictable, difficult, and traumatic by survivors being supported by Rape Crisis. Lengthy waits and last-minute changes meant that survivors often felt as though their lives were put on hold, and as though they were trapped in the trauma and unable to move forward. Now – with the court backlog estimated to take until 2026 to clear – the situation is untenable.
These are not problems that are without solutions. There are credible and robust options – including the use of judge led trials – that must be considered if we are to ensure that survivor and public confidence in the justice systems does not diminish even further. These options require courage and leadership and for us all to accept that doing nothing is not an option.” - Sandy Brindley, Rape Crisis Scotland
Read the updated Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research paper here.
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