{"id":229657,"date":"2024-04-21T12:03:08","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T12:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/?p=229657"},"modified":"2024-04-21T12:03:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T12:03:08","slug":"stop-crime-victims-in-england-and-wales-paying-thousands-for-court-transcripts-say-mps-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/stop-crime-victims-in-england-and-wales-paying-thousands-for-court-transcripts-say-mps-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop crime victims in England and Wales paying thousands for court transcripts, say MPs | Crime"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MPs from across the political spectrum have urged the government to remove a \u201cbarrier to justice\u201d that sees crime victims in England and Wales forced to pay hundreds or thousands of pounds for transcripts of court proceedings.<\/p>\n

Under the current system, those affected by crime \u2013 including the most serious sexual and violent offences \u2013 can face steep fees if they want to obtain written records from cases they were involved in.<\/p>\n

Juliana Terlizzi, a victim of rape<\/a> who waived her right to anonymity, said she was quoted \u00a37,500 for a transcript from a 10-day crown court trial that resulted in the man who attacked and drugged her being jailed for 15 years. In other cases, the admin charges are reported to have been as high as \u00a322,000.<\/p>\n

This weekend, before a vote in the Lords next week on scrapping the fees, 31 MPs including Tory backbencher Sir Peter Bottomley and Labour MPs Stella Creasy and John McDonnell, wrote to justice secretary Alex Chalk calling for provisions in the victims\u2019 bill to ensure victims are able to access court transcripts free of charge.<\/p>\n

In a letter coordinated by Lib Dem MP Sarah Olney, they said victims often did not attend trial and that some were actively discouraged from doing so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout a transcript of court proceedings, victims are unable to find out exactly what happened during the trial, which can make it very difficult for them to come to terms with how the verdict was reached,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

They said existing provisions \u201csuch as providing a transcript at the judge\u2019s discretion or publishing sentence remarks in certain cases\u201d, were \u201cinsufficient or unaffordable\u201d, adding this was not only a \u201cbarrier to justice\u201d but a \u201cmajor barrier to victims\u2019 recovery\u201d.<\/p>\n

The call to scrap the fees comes before a critical vote in the Lords on Tuesday on an amendment, tabled by the Lib Dems, that would allow all crime victims to request a transcript of the court\u2019s summing up and sentencing remarks.<\/p>\n

Sentencing transcripts are now charged at about \u00a31.20 for 72 words, according to estimates calculated by the House of Commons library. The research suggests it would cost only about \u00a33.7m a year to make transcripts available for all crown court trials and sentencing hearings.<\/p>\n

Asked about the issue at PMQs on Wednesday, Rishi Sunak<\/a> said there was already a \u201cfree service\u201d for the families of homicide victims, and that the government was \u201cactively looking\u201d at options to \u201cimmediately reduce the costs\u201d. His response was called a \u201cslap in the face\u201d by Terlizzi, who said the comments were \u201cempty words\u201d.<\/p>\n

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