Specialist rape courts to open across England and Wales
A new Rape Justice Taskforce will bring together criminal justice leaders to tackle the rising rate of postponed rape trials, the Ministry of Justice said.
Every Crown Court in England and Wales is to get at least one courtroom set up to hear rape and serious sexual offence cases, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced.
The courtrooms will be introduced over the next two years and backed by what the Ministry of Justice called a “multi-million cash injection”, though it did not give a figure.
In 2025, rape cases took an average of 424 days to complete once they reached the Crown Court, with what the ministry called “too many” victims withdrawing before their case was heard.
Rape and serious sexual offence trials would also be given a fixed date, rather than being placed on floating lists where they can be moved at short notice and delayed by many months.
Victims will have private entrances and waiting rooms, and the courtrooms will be equipped for evidence to be pre-recorded and for sentencing to be watched remotely.
“Prosecution rates for rape remain shamefully low, with many victims waiting years for justice,” Burnham said.
The prime minister said the changes were “long overdue” but that “focusing on prosecution alone will not be enough”, adding that the government would step up action to prevent such crimes.
Lord Chancellor Alex Norris said victims had been “treated as cases to process and not as people to support”.
All court staff will get trauma-informed training, and a trial will give victims of sex offences a single point of contact during the court process. A new Rape Justice Taskforce will also bring together leaders from across the criminal justice system to tackle the rising rate of postponed rape trials.
Ciara Bergman, chief executive of Rape Crisis England & Wales, called the package “a significant step forward for our justice system”.
Bergman said separate waiting areas, entrances and exits were needed “to prevent survivors from being intimidated and distressed by the presence of perpetrators and their supporters”.
The announcement follows a pledge made earlier in September that all police forces in England and Wales would have dedicated rape and sexual offence investigation teams by the end of 2027.
The government’s Courts and Tribunals Bill, aimed at cutting the backlog of cases, was set to return to Parliament in October.
