A watchdog has welcomed improvements in the justice system for victims of sexual crime in Northern Ireland, but said more support was needed.
The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) published figures on the prosecution of sexual offences for 2023/24, finding a “significant reduction” in the time taken for decisions on indictable Crown Court files.
This was an average of 212 days, the lowest in five years including a wait of 293 days in 2020/21.
There was also “a modest increase” in the prosecution rate for these offences.
The PPS said this partly down to joint efforts with the police to improve their decision making process.
Commissioner Designate for Victims of Crime, Geraldine Hanna welcomed the improvements, but said much more needed to be done so that victims of sexual offences received the right support and “the justice system they deserve.”
Referencing another report from the Criminal Justice Inspectorate Northern Ireland (CJNI) - which said there had been “limited improvement” since the devolution of justice for victims, witnesses and defendants – Ms Hanna agreed there needed to be a better collection of analysis and data across the entire criminal justice system, not just the PPS.
“We must always remember that behind these statistics are individuals with lives that have been seriously impacted while their case goes through the system,” she said.
“One of the most common issues raised during our last victim survey was poor communication across the system.
“Given the length of time that decisions on these cases taken, it’s absolutely vital that the PPS is communicating with victims regularly and with empathy.
“Coming forward and reporting a crime can be difficult, it’s important that support services are available, appropriate and most importantly adequately resourced.”
Acting head of the PPS Serious Crime Unit Catherine Kierans acknowledged the “long-lasting trauma and distress” to victims and praised their bravery for reporting the offences.
The figures also detailed that the test for prosecution was met in nearly a third (32.2%) of sexual offence cases, with 598 decisions for prosecution or diversion from the courts – up from 27.3% the previous year.
For Crown Court cases involving sexual offences, the overall conviction rate was 72.2%, up from 69.3% in 2022/23.
Ms Kierans added: “While it is not the role of the PPS to seek a conviction at all costs, we are heartened to see these modest increases in these challenging cases. We hope victims, victim representative groups and the wider public will see it as a sign of our continued focus on these offences.”
The PPS received 1,615 files involving a sexual offence in 2023/24, down 13.1% for the previous year.
The number of files involving an offence of rape also decreased from 684 to 635.
A total of 86 defendants were dealt with by the Crown Court for an offence of rape, with 54 (62.8%) convicted of at least one offence – and 26 (30.2%) convicted of an offence of rape.
Addressing victims, Ms Kierans added: “You are not to blame for what has happened to you and the only person responsible is the perpetrator. Please speak to police who have dedicated officers who can help.
“We in the PPS carefully consider every case we receive from police and take decisions only in line with our legal Test for Prosecution.”
