Court Reform Needs Your Voice
As the Courts and Tribunals Bill returns, the people who have lived through the justice system need to be heard
Earlier this year, victims and survivors came together through Make Yourself Heard and Open Justice for All to call for justice reform to reflect the lived reality of delay - and for those directly affected by the system to be meaningfully included in shaping what comes next. That message matters even more now.
The Courts and Tribunals Bill proposes significant changes to the criminal courts, against the backdrop of a system facing severe delays and a Crown Court backlog that has grown to tens of thousands of open cases. The debate over how to fix that crisis continues. But this cannot become a conversation only between politicians, lawyers and institutions.
As we said in our open letter:
“We are not outside this system - we are the ones who move through it.”
The experiences of people actually navigating the criminal justice system must help shape what happens next.
What does going through the courts actually feel like?
We’re currently hearing from campaigners and journalists who want to understand the reality behind the headlines and the statistics.
We want to hear from people who have recently:
waited for a case to reach court
experienced postponements, adjournments or floating trials
prepared themselves repeatedly for trial
given evidence or attended sentencing
struggled with communication or updates
had a case end before it ever reached the courtroom
or experienced something about the process that you believe needs to change.
Your experience does not have to fit neatly into a particular category.
The question is simple: what did the justice system ask of you - and what should those now reforming it understand?
Lived experience cannot be an afterthought
Our previous open letter argued that court delay is not simply an administrative problem. For victims, delays can mean years spent waiting, repeated preparation for hearings that do not go ahead, lives placed on hold, and people reaching the point where remaining engaged with the process becomes increasingly difficult.
It also made clear that victims and survivors should not be spoken for when our own voices can be heard directly.
Representation matters. But it is not the same as lived experience. As debate around the Courts and Tribunals Bill continues, we want to help make sure those voices are heard directly.
Share your experience
If you have been through the courts recently and would be open to sharing your experience, we’d really like to hear from you.
You can contact us confidentially at first, share as much or as little as you feel comfortable with, and discuss anonymity where appropriate. Your experience may help inform journalists, campaigners and the wider conversation around what meaningful justice reform should look like.
DM Make Yourself Heard or email
jadeblue@makeyourselfheard.org
