A survivor outlines her experience and her drive to campaign for accessible court transcripts, to aid recovery.
‘Open Justice’ is a term that the government throws around a lot, but it actually means nothing to victims. It is supposed to bring clarity and confidence into the system from the general public, but in reality, everything is behind closed doors.
As a victim of domestic and sexual abuse, I naively reported what happened to me, unaware of the trauma you, as a victim must endure, in the criminal justice system. Coming out the other end I wanted to find out what happened, what was said, why decisions were made and what was discussed. I was advised not to sit in and listen to the trial after I gave evidence. Even if I wanted to be there, I would have had to sit on a bench next to my abuser’s family and friends. This means I had no idea what was said, nor did I have any evidence.
The only way to hear the whole story of a trial is to request court transcripts. However, victims are routinely quoted between £6,000 and £22,000 for transcripts of their trial, and magistrates courts do not even record the trial – so the only thing you can receive are notes, which are only kept for as long as the defendant has the ability to appeal.
My coping mechanism is to take action, and I quickly found out that other victims had come across the same challenges, we all wanted to understand what was said in our trials. It all started with a petition, which turned into a joint campaign with the Victims Commissioner of London, Claire Waxman.
Our campaign has a few goals – the main goal being access to court transcripts for victims, free of charge. But also, for the justice system including the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) to update their legislation to ensure that victims can more easily watch the rest of the trial safely, such as through a live link. We also urge the government to modernise Magistrates courts by recording trials there as well, which will the bring the ability for court transcripts. It would also be important for government to consider if support would be offered as part of the process, as it could be distressing reading what was said about you.
The government did approve a pilot. The pilot is running now and allows victim-survivors of sexual offences to apply for sentencing remarks for free.
Any victim-survivor who had a sentencing hearing from as far back as March 2012 can apply, until May 2025.
You can click here to apply for free transcript of judge’s sentencing remarks.
Our campaign isn’t over. I sincerely hope the government starts to advertise this pilot widely to as many victim-survivors can benefit. I also hope they will conduct research to understand the impact it has had on those that have had access. We will continue to push for more and bigger changes. We believe the justice system should be open and accessible for all. Not just those who can afford it.
The campaign was supported by various other victims and survivors campaigning to amend the victims’ bill. To support our campaign visit www.openjusticeforall.com or follow us on Twitter @OpenJustice4All or Instagram @OpenJusticeForAll.