Victims Shouldn’t Have to Manage Their Own Justice
The criminal justice system includes different agencies, but victims experience one continuous journey. Why meaningful justice reform must look beyond individual institutions and address the gaps between them
By Jade Blue
When we talk about criminal justice reform, we often focus on individual parts of the system.
Police investigations. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decisions. Court delays. Victims’ rights. Prison releases. Probation.
Each has its own responsibilities, challenges and opportunities for improvement. But I think we risk overlooking something in these conversations.
Victims don’t experience separate agencies. They experience one system. And when that system fails to work together, the victim is often left trying to hold everything together.
One System, One Experience
From the moment someone reports a crime, they can find themselves navigating an unfamiliar world of procedures, terminology, decisions and responsibilities.
The police investigate. The CPS makes prosecution decisions. Courts manage proceedings. Support services provide assistance. Depending on the case, prisons and probation may become involved later.
On paper, these responsibilities are divided. In reality, the experience is continuous. A victim doesn’t necessarily distinguish between a police failure, a CPS decision or a court delay when reflecting on their experience of justice.
They remember how they were treated, whether they were kept informed, whether their rights were respected and whether anyone took responsibility when something went wrong.
That is why improving one part of the criminal justice system, while important, doesn’t automatically transform the experience of those navigating it.
Justice reform cannot be measured solely by what changes within an agency. It must also consider what changes for the people moving between them.
The Cumulative Harm We Don’t Talk About Enough
One of the biggest things I’ve learned, both through my own experience and through founding Make Yourself Heard, is that the harm caused by the justice system is rarely the result of one isolated failure.
It is often cumulative. The update that never arrived. The officer who changed without a proper handover. The hearing that was postponed. The decision nobody properly explained. The right you were never told existed. The unanswered email. The uncertainty. The feeling of having to chase information that should have been provided without asking.
Individually, these things might appear relatively small within the workings of a large institution. But lived together, over months or sometimes years, they can fundamentally shape someone’s experience of justice.
And importantly, the impact doesn’t necessarily end when a case concludes.
For some victims, the experience of navigating the criminal justice system can leave lasting consequences of its own. I know that from personal experience. It is why I believe we need to take the cumulative impact of institutional failings far more seriously when discussing victims’ experiences, accountability and reform.
Who Takes Responsibility for the Gaps?
We spend considerable time discussing how individual criminal justice agencies can improve their performance. And rightly so.
But what about the spaces between them?
Who makes sure information is passed on?
Who explains what happens next?
Who ensures victims understand their rights at different stages?
Who takes responsibility when a victim falls through the gaps?
Too often, victims can find themselves trying to connect the dots between organisations that should already be working together.
They become the person chasing updates, clarifying decisions, identifying the correct contact and trying to establish who is responsible for resolving a problem.
Sometimes, they are passed from one agency to another, each with a different explanation of where responsibility begins and ends.
A system can have multiple agencies with clearly defined responsibilities and still leave victims feeling that nobody is taking responsibility for their overall experience.
That gap is one we cannot afford to ignore.
Victims Are Not Project Managers
There is something very unreasonable about expecting someone who has experienced a crime to become an expert in the criminal justice system suddenly. Yet that is what navigating it can sometimes demand.
Understanding the difference between investigative and prosecutorial decisions. Knowing which organisation to contact. Learning about review processes, complaints procedures, special measures and entitlements under the Victims’ Code.
And doing all of this while potentially dealing with the emotional, practical and financial consequences of the crime itself.
Of course, victims should be empowered with information about their rights and the processes affecting them. But there is a difference between empowering somebody and transferring responsibility onto them.
Knowing your rights should not mean having to fight to receive them. Nor should access to information, support, or accountability depend on how confident, persistent, or knowledgeable someone is.
The system should be accessible to the person encountering it for the first time, not just those who have learned how to navigate its complexities.
Reform Must Connect the Dots
I strongly advocate for meaningful criminal justice reform. I recognise that change is complicated, resources are stretched, and different agencies operate under different legal and operational responsibilities.
Positive developments are also taking place across policing, prosecution, courts and victims’ services that deserve recognition. But reform needs to be considered through the experience of the people it is intended to serve.
That means looking beyond individual performance measures and asking bigger questions.
Are victims receiving consistent information throughout their journey? Are handovers between agencies working? Are rights being delivered in practice? Is there clear accountability when something goes wrong? And are improvements in one part of the system making a meaningful difference to the experience as a whole?
These questions matter because a successful reform on paper does not necessarily translate into a better experience in practice.
We need improvements within agencies, certainly. But we also need greater coordination, clearer communication and accountability across the entire journey.
Not simply a collection of organisations each working to improve their own part of the process.
Making Yourself Heard Shouldn’t Be This Difficult
When I founded Make Yourself Heard, I wanted to create a space where lived experience could inform conversations about justice, accountability and change.
Because people who have navigated these systems often understand what performance reports and organisational structures cannot fully capture.
They understand how the different parts connect. They understand the consequences when they don’t.
And they understand that the smallest administrative failure can carry a much greater human cost than it might suggest on paper.
I don’t believe every difficulty within the criminal justice system can be resolved overnight. Nor do I believe that every disappointing outcome represents an institutional failure.
But I do believe we can do better at recognising victims' overall experience, rather than expecting them to navigate disconnected processes.
We should be working towards a system where agencies communicate effectively, responsibilities are clear, victims' rights are upheld, and nobody is left chasing the information and support they should already be receiving.
Because ultimately, justice isn’t experienced in departments, policies or organisational charts. It is experienced by people. And if we want to improve confidence in the criminal justice system meaningfully, we need to look at the whole journey, not just its individual parts.
