Victims of rape and serious sexual assault who face their cases being dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service will be given the right to request a review under a government pilot.
The six-month scheme, which will launch on Friday in the West Midlands, will give victims the right to ask for their case to be reviewed by a different prosecutor if the CPS indicates it intends to offer no evidence.
The reform is backed by the attorney general and solicitor general and forms part of the government’s pledge to halve violence against women and girls.
Campaigners have long called for the change. Criminal cases can be stopped at any point if a prosecutor decides there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction, but this reform strengthens the right of victims to challenge the decision.
Though a right to review already exists, it cannot be exercised when the case has been stopped in court. Under the terms of the pilot, for the first time victims of rape or serious sexual abuse will be offered the right to request a review by a different prosecutor before their case is dropped. If that prosecutor determines there is enough evidence, the case will continue.
If the trial is successful in the West Midlands, ministers could extend it across England and Wales.
Jade Blue McCrossen-Nethercott, a justice reform campaigner who won compensation from the CPS after her rape case was dropped amid claims she could have had an episode of “sexsomnia”, said the pilot was “a hugely important step in the right direction”.
“After my own case was closed due to a controversial ‘sexsomnia’ defence, I used the victims’ right to review – only to be told that, despite the CPS admitting a mistake, it was too late to reopen the case because they’d already offered no evidence in court. That experience was devastating,” she said.
“I’ve spent nearly three years campaigning behind the scenes for this exact change: for victims to have the opportunity to request a second review before a case is shut down.”
She added that, despite its failure in her case, the CPS had shown a willingness to reflect and change and that her “faith in the agencies that once failed me is slowly being restored”.
Ministers hope the change will help build trust in the justice system, which has been eroded by lengthy waiting times. In latest quarterly crime data released by the Ministry of Justice running to December 2024, rape and sexual offences had reached a record high in the crown court’s backlog.
The number of sexual offences waiting to go to the crown court was 11,981, up by 41% in two years. There were 3,489 adult rape cases waiting to go to trial, an increase of 70% in two years.
According to figures published by Rape Crisis, fewer than three in 100 rapes recorded by police in 2024 resulted in someone being charged that same year. Adult rape cases take an average of two years to complete in court, with many taking far longer.
The pilot was welcomed by the End Violence Against Women Coalition and Centre for Women’s Justice. Helen Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, said it was “a first step toward ending a manifestly unfair practice that denied victims a voice and robbed them of justice”.
Lucy Rigby, the solicitor general, said: “This government is treating violence against women and girls with the seriousness it deserves. Part of that is about empowering victims and improving their experience of the criminal justice system.”
Siobhan Blake, CPS lead for rape and chief crown prosecutor of CPS West Midlands, said: “We know for rape victims, the prospect of their case being stopped can be absolutely devastating. Although they can request a review of our decision-making now, if we have already stopped the case in court, there is nothing that can be done to reactivate the case if that review comes to a different conclusion. In those circumstances we offer an apology, but appreciate that for a victim an apology rarely goes far enough or feels like a just outcome.
“This pilot offers greater reassurance for victims. It means that they will be alerted to the prospect of their case being stopped earlier, so that they can ask for a review by a different prosecutor. If the original decision is reversed, then the case will continue but even if it can’t we hope that victims will have more confidence in the process and the earlier scrutiny of our decision-making.”
