Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Jarvis Excerpts

Tuesday 16th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alex Davies-Jones]

I was pleased to attend the Justice Committee to discuss how important section 28 is to vulnerable witnesses and victims, and the difference that it makes by allowing victims of rape and sexual offence crimes specifically to be maintained within the justice system, allowing them to give their evidence in a safe manner that is more accessible to them. In a justice system where currently 60% of rape victims are withdrawing from the process because of the backlog, the waits and how traumatic it is, anything that helps them to be maintained in the criminal justice system is worth championing.

[Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)]

My constituent waited 18 months to face her abuser in court, only to be told the day before the trial was supposed to begin that it had been postponed until May 2026. How are victims of domestic abuse supposed to get redress and closure when they face such intolerable delays?

[Alex Davies-Jones]

It is unacceptable that this is being allowed to carry on in our courts, which is why we are taking that fundamental reform, because without victims we would not have a criminal justice system and it is important that we put them at the heart of this. We are funding independent domestic abuse advocates to support victims, to get them through the system quicker. We are also committed to rolling out more specialist domestic abuse courts. That was one of the clear recommendations of the Leveson review, and it is something that the Courts Minister, my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Sarah Sackman), and I are working closely on to support victims, but I will happily discuss this further with the hon. Member to ensure that we get this right for victims of domestic abuse.

Victims and Courts Bill

Liz Jarvis Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 20th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)]

I welcome the Bill as an important first step towards a more accountable criminal justice system—one that reflects the needs and voices of survivors of crime. Too often, victims have been let down by a system that fails to grasp their trauma and recognise their experiences. They are expected to navigate an underfunded and overstretched justice process that all too frequently delays or even denies justice. I sincerely hope that the Bill is just the beginning of a wider governmental approach to fix the crisis in the criminal justice system, including the court backlog and the mess left behind by the previous Government.

Liberal Democrats support the creation of a specific domestic abuse aggravated offence, and I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne (Josh Babarinde) for his tireless work on the issue. In February, two men from Hampshire were released as part of the early release scheme, even though they had both been convicted of domestic abuse. The former partners of those men said that they were terrified and felt unable to regain control of their lives. One of the victims said:

“He got three years, I got life.”

The law should be changed to reflect the full impact of domestic abuse on its victims.

I recently met a constituent whose ex-husband was convicted of sexual communication with a child but was permitted to change his name. Even though the Crime and Policing Bill will require registered sex offenders to notify police and seek permission before changing their names, serious risks remain. My constituent’s case highlights how sex offenders can conceal their identities by changing their names. That was raised in the last Parliament by the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion). Will the Government take action to protect victims and survivors from that loophole allowing registered sex offenders to change their names to avoid detection?

I am glad that the Government are taking steps to support victims and survivors of crime. I hope that more will be done to ensure that the criminal justice system truly protects the most vulnerable and delivers accessible and fair justice that is centred on the needs of those it is meant to serve.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Jarvis Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sir Nicholas Dakin]

I understand that the case to which the hon. Gentleman refers took place under the last Government, and the men he referred to were tried in absentia. The Home Secretary set out the steps that the Government are taking to tackle the terrible crimes of child sexual exploitation and abuse, including group-based child sexual exploitation. Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are legislating to make grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences, to ensure that it is properly reflected in the sentencing of perpetrators.

[Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)]

4. What steps she is taking to reduce the cost of court transcripts for victims.

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Sarah Sackman)]

The Government recognise just how important accessing transcripts can be for certain victims. That is why transcripts of sentencing remarks are available free of charge to the families of victims of fatal road offences, murder and manslaughter. It is also why this Government are running a one-year pilot that offers free sentencing remarks to victims of rape and sexual offences. That is due to conclude in May. We are also looking in the round at how we lower the cost of obtaining a court transcript through increased use of technology.

[Liz Jarvis]

The previous Government launched a pilot scheme to provide free sentencing remarks to victims of sexual violence. However, thousands of eligible survivors only found out about it months after it started. Poor communication meant that victims missed out on the opportunity for some closure. Will the Justice Secretary confirm whether the pilot has been properly evaluated, whether its findings will be made public, and what steps will be taken to improve awareness and accessibility for those who need to use the scheme?

[Sarah Sackman]

The hon. Member is absolutely right that initially there was not enough uptake. The Government acted to drum up awareness of the scheme precisely because we want to test its effectiveness for victims of rape and serious sexual offences. I reassure her that application numbers are up. We are conducting the evaluation, and once we have the results, we will be able to test whether we can implement the scheme in the future.