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1126189

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Sexual Offences: Legal Representation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, under what circumstances in cases involving historical sexual abuse are victims entitled to legal representation.
tabling member constituency	South Shields
tabling member printed	Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck
uin	253582
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government’s first ever cross-government Victims Strategy outlines our commitments to victims of crime.</p><p> </p><p>The Crown Prosecution Service is responsible for the prosecution of criminal cases. Victims of crime are not separately represented in criminal trials.</p><p> </p><p>Victims of historic sexual abuse have access to an independent sexual violence adviser (ISVA). The ISVA’s role is to ensure the victim receives the right support before, during and after legal proceedings. As part of proceedings, a victim may be called to give evidence as a witness for the prosecution. ISVAs will work alongside the Court-Based Witness Service to support the victim to give their best evidence and participate in the court process.</p><p> </p><p>In April this year, the Ministry of Justice awarded £8m in funding to rape support centres to provide emotional and practical support to victims of sexual violence and historic sexual abuse, including the provision of ISVA services. We also provided a grant of £11.2m to Citizens Advice for the delivery of the Court-Based Witness Service.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 16/05/2019 16:44:33 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4277 label Biography information for Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck

1126190

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Criminal Proceedings: Sexual Offences
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, under what circumstances in cases involving historical sexual abuse are victims entitled to have character references used in their defence.
tabling member constituency	South Shields
tabling member printed	Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck
uin	253583
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>Tackling historical sexual abuse and bringing perpetrators to justice is a government priority.</p><p> </p><p>Some victims of historical sexual abuse may be called to give evidence in criminal trials however a victim is not a party to a criminal case, as the Crown prosecutes. Victims and witnesses are not required to defend themselves or provide evidence to support their statements.</p><p>Rules of evidence do not permit the Crown to call evidence of the good character of a prosecution witness in order to bolster their credibility where it is not relevant to an issue in the case.</p><p>If the defendant attacks the character of a witness, evidence of the defendant’s bad character may be admissible as evidence.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 16/05/2019 16:31:42 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4277 label Biography information for Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck

1126192

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Criminal Proceedings: Sexual Offences
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance and training barristers receive on the cross-examination of victims of historical sexual abuse.
tabling member constituency	South Shields
tabling member printed	Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck
uin	253585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA) has developed specialist training for all advocates who question witnesses in cases of a serious sexual nature involving vulnerable adults and children. The training programme goes beyond victims of serious sexual offences. It aims to ensure all advocates understand the key principles of how to approach and question vulnerable people in the justice system</p><p>As set out in the Government’s Victims Strategy, the training programme delivers the manifesto commitment: “Publicly funded advocates will have specialist training in handling victims before taking on serious sexual offences” and goes beyond that commitment. Training is available to all advocates, not just those working on publicly funded cases.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 16/05/2019 16:41:56 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4277 label Biography information for Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck