To ask the Minister of Justice for an update on the Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill.

Improving the experience of the criminal justice system for victims and witnesses of crime is a priority for my Department and its partners. The Bill is focused on a small number of very significant measures that will have the most impact on victims and witnesses of crime.

The Bill’s provisions will:

Place a Victims and Witnesses of Crime Commissioner on a statutory footing;

Make provision in relation to reporting duties placed on criminal justice agencies and monitoring compliance of relevant organisations with the Victim and Witness Charters;

Introduce a right to pre-trial independent legal representation in prescribed circumstances for complainants in serious sexual offence cases;

Make provision relating to improvements to the third party material disclosure process in serious sexual offence cases;

Add hate crime offences to the list of offences in which there is an automatic eligibility to special measures. In addition, any person charged with any offence under the new statutory aggravation model, which is included within the current Sentencing Bill, will be prohibited from cross examining the victim of a hate crime in any criminal proceedings; and

Make a technical fix to the ‘No Bill’ procedure specifically in relation to causing / allowing death / serious harm of a child / vulnerable adult in preparation for the commencement of Committal Reform.

Officials are currently working with OLC to support the drafting of the Bill, and I plan to introduce it before the summer recess, subject to Executive approval.