Separate courts to deal with serious sexual offences and rape.

[happydappy2]

The state of the criminal justice system is abysmal. Defendants are waiting many years for their case to come to court. Maybe it's time to insist on new courts being created, specifically to deal with serious sexual offences.

The crime of rape or serious sexual assault needs to be dealt with swiftly, for the victim to begin to be able to heal and move forward. The fact that the trial date can be years down the line means the trauma is hanging over the victim for an unnecessarily long time. Just wondered what others thought and how we could make this happen.

I think increased funding for the police and the judiciary would go a long way.

I'd also like to see better training for the judiciary, esp judges and members off the cps (and maybe even juries?) for handling rape cases but that's less to do with the speed of cases being heard and more about justice being served.

Rather than separate courts, it might be more feasible to campaign for a maximum time between cps being handed the info from the police and the trial starting. A bit like the "waiting list" times for various Nhs things. They often get missed, but the fact they are recorded makes it easier to track and make highlight the problem.

Yes maximum 6 months from report to trial or face fines.

No more juries in sex crime cases.

I think the draw back their is it would just end up benefiting the accused surely.

A lot easier to argue that they've been prejudiced by delay only a year or so down the line if they have a statute to point to that says their trial should have been heard within 6 months.

i just can’t see it happening. Especially not right now with all the energy stuff going on and impending recession.

The process needs to be restructured, not for there to be separate courts for sexual crimes, racism, etc, etc.