Armed Forces: Administration of Justice
(asked on 28th January 2026) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve the Service Justice System.
The Ministry of Defence is taking forward a comprehensive programme of reforms to strengthen and modernise the Service Justice System. As a result, investigations, prosecutions and victim support have all significantly improved in recent years. We want to build on the progress made and this is why the Armed Forces Bill strengthens how the Service Justice System tackles violence against women and girls, enhances support and rights for victims in the Service Justice System and, modernises investigation, charging and discipline procedures in the Service Justice System.
The Defence Serious Crime Command, launched in December 2022, operates independently of the Chain of Command, ensuring impartial investigations into serious offences committed in the UK and overseas. It is implementing the National Operating Model under Operation SOTERIA, in line with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing guidance. This ensures that investigations into rape and serious sexual offences are victim-centred, suspect-focused and consistent with nationally recognised policing standards. The Victim Witness Care Unit provides independent, trauma-informed, end-to-end support to victims and witnesses through dedicated Victim Liaison Officers and operates outside of the Armed Forces’ Chain of Command.
Noting the procedural differences between the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales and the Service Justice System, published administrative data drawn from the Criminal Justice System Delivery Dashboard and statistics on timeliness, victim withdrawal rates and conviction rates in adult-rape-flagged cases in the Service Justice System suggest that cases are dealt with much more quickly in the Service Justice System with a smaller proportion of victims withdrawing from proceedings. Following charge, adult-rape-flagged cases in 2024 reached an outcome in the Crown Court in 358 days with 19% of victims withdrawing from proceedings and 199 days in the Court Martial with no victims withdrawing from proceedings.
Whilst conviction rates cannot be reliably compared between the two systems due to differences in case volume, procedure, victim withdrawal rates and case profile, administrative data published in CPS quarterly data summaries and the above-mentioned statistics on timeliness, victim withdrawal rates and conviction rates in adult-rape-flagged cases in the Service Justice System also cast further doubt on claims that the conviction rate in the Crown Court is higher. Excluding guilty pleas, 51% of adult-rape-flagged cases in 2022 to 2024 in the Court Martial resulted in a conviction whereas 36% resulted in a conviction in the Crown Court.
In its November 2024 report regarding the Service Prosecuting Authority, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate stated that “the level of timeliness and support for victims in the Service Justice System is something we would like to see afforded to all victims in all jurisdictions.”
For more information on the statistics quoted above please see:
https://criminal-justice-delivery-data-dashboards.justice.gov.uk/all-metrics