Specialist rape courts set to reduce trial delays across England Wales
Andy Burnham announced specialist courtrooms for rape and serious sexual offences will be established in every Crown Court in England and Wales within two years. The package costs around £23m and takes effect in part from October.
- 424 days: average time rape cases took to complete at Crown Court last year.
- £23m in Ministry of Justice funding will cover the rollout.
- Victims get private entrances, waiting rooms, and a single staff contact.
- A pilot scheme ran in Leeds, Newcastle, and Snaresbrook from 2022.
Why it matters: Long delays have pushed some victims to drop cases entirely before a verdict is reached.
- Court staff will receive trauma-informed training; some evidence can be pre-recorded and sentencing viewed remotely.
How 5 sources split on this story
Where they split: All sides call the move overdue, but Conservatives say Labour is using rape trial delays to justify restricting jury trials — a policy the reforms do not address.
Center coverage, 2 sources: The center presents the policy detail and political context together, including Charlotte Nichols' public disclosure and Conservative criticism of jury trial restrictions.
Left coverage, 1 sources: The left frames the announcement as a meaningful but incomplete step, foregrounding survivor experiences and the charity sector's call for years of such reforms.
Right coverage, 2 sources: The right emphasizes victim torment caused by delays and uses the announcement to press Labour to abandon plans to limit jury trials.
What’s next: Fixed trial dates begin in October, replacing the floating-list system.
- Legal groups warned finding enough lawyers and judges remains a challenge.
- Will the £23m budget prove sufficient to staff and equip specialist courtrooms across all Crown Courts?
- How quickly will fixed trial dates reduce the existing backlog of rape cases?
- What effect, if any, will the proposed restriction on jury trials have on rape prosecutions?