The victims commissioner states that unless amendments are made, new legislation will “not be worth the paper it’s written on” in an interview with Sophy Ridge of Sky News.
According to officials, the Victims and Prisoners Bill will “fundamentally transform victims’ experience of the criminal justice system” when it returns to parliament this week.
In addition to granting the Ministry of Justice the authority to inspect agencies that are failing victims, the government has pledged to enact a code of practice to support them and to improve oversight of all parties involved in their treatment.
However, Baroness Newlove, who has served as the victims’ commissioner since October, stated to Sophy Ridge of Sky News that the legislation is “not strong enough”.
Assuring that those involved “have access to services, they get communicated properly, [that victims] do understand what support systems are out there,” the Tory peer, who has campaigned on victims’ rights since her husband Gary’s murder in 2007, said in an interview with Politics Hub that the code of practice for supporting victims should be “on the face of the bill.”
“As it stands now, the code is just seen as persuasive guidance,” the speaker continued. Therefore, if you don’t make it by law, none of the professionals will stand up and do anything for you unless you have legal rights within a legal system.”
