Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to expedite the judicial process for those charged with domestic abuse offences.

As part of our landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, we are committed to strengthening the justice system’s response to domestic abuse.

Decisions on case listing are a matter for the independent judiciary, who do, where possible, look to prioritise cases involving vulnerable victims and witnesses, such as victims of domestic abuse.

Most domestic abuse cases are heard in Magistrates’ Courts where cases move more swiftly than at the Crown Court. Despite this, we recognise that some cases are taking longer to work through the system.  We are actively exploring the merits of specialist court models and have committed to fast-track rape cases through the Crown Court.

In November, we launched the Domestic Abuse Protection Order (DAPO) pilot to provide more protection for victims and we have also committed to introduce domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms.