Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Justice to detail any steps she is taking to improve (i) transparency; and (ii) communication, with victims across the criminal justice system.
Minister of Justice: The Victims and Witnesses of Crime Strategy 2026-2032 aims to strengthen transparency and improve communication with victims and witnesses by promoting greater openness and understanding of the criminal justice process and the decisions that affect them. It recognises that victims and witnesses should receive clear, timely and accessible information throughout their engagement with the justice system and identifies effective communication as a key strategic objective.
The strategy is underpinned by a performance framework and action plan, to monitor progress and drive continuous improvement across the criminal justice system. Victims’ experiences and feedback will continue to inform the development and delivery of services to ensure that support and communication arrangements remain responsive to their needs.
Actions within the strategy include improving the quality and timeliness of information provided at key stages of the criminal justice process; ensuring that communications are trauma-informed and tailored to individual needs, including those of children, young people and vulnerable victims; strengthening compliance with the Victim Charter; and increasing opportunities for victims and witnesses to have their voices heard in the development of policy and services.
The strategy also supports improved awareness and delivery of the Victim Charter, which sets out the standards of service, support and information that victims can expect to receive from criminal justice organisations, including their entitlement to receive updates on the progress of their case. This will help ensure that victims are fully aware of, and able to exercise, their rights.
While the Department sets the strategic framework, responsibility for providing victims with information about their case and ensuring effective communication throughout the criminal justice process rests primarily with operational criminal justice agencies. The Victim Charter therefore plays an important role in setting out the standards of service, support and information that victims can expect from those organisations, including their entitlement to receive updates on the progress of their case. Improving awareness of, and compliance with, the Charter is a key element of the Strategy and will help ensure that victims are fully aware of, and able to exercise, their rights.
In addition, the proposed Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill will strengthen transparency and accountability by placing obligations on charter service providers to report on their compliance with the Victim Charter. The Charter sets out the standards of service, support and information that victims can expect to receive from charter service providers. Requiring providers to demonstrate and report on how they are meeting those standards will increase transparency, support continuous improvement and help ensure that victims’ rights are consistently delivered in practice.
The Department is also taking forward a range of practical measures to improve victims’ experience of the justice system, including steps to provide access to sentencing remarks in appropriate cases, and ensuring that victims are provided with clear information about their rights and the support services available to them.
Through these measures, I aim to increase victims’ confidence in the criminal justice system by ensuring they are informed, supported and treated with dignity and respect throughout the criminal justice process.
ENDS
