Justice Is in Crisis
The Victims’ Commissioner says the criminal justice system is showing the “hallmarks of a national emergency”
For victims already living through delay, uncertainty and repeated system failures, that warning will feel painfully familiar.
There comes a point where “under pressure” stops being an adequate description.
Courts are backlogged. Probation is stretched. Prisons are overcrowded. Victim services are carrying enormous demand. And at the same time, more offenders are set to be managed outside prison.
This week, Victims’ Commissioner Claire Waxman OBE warned that the pressures across the criminal justice system now have the “hallmarks of a national emergency.” For us, the biggest question is simple: Who carries the risk when the system runs out of capacity?
Because too often, it is victims.
They wait years for trials. They live with uncertainty around release. They are expected to trust that information will be shared, warning signs will be recognised, and risk will be properly managed - even while the agencies responsible are openly saying they are struggling. And we have already seen what can happen when those safeguards fail.
The recent Simon Levy case exposed devastating missed opportunities, failures to share information and failures to manage risk properly.
That should not be treated as an isolated horror story. It should be a warning.
The Victims’ Commissioner is calling for something much bigger than another short-term fix to prison overcrowding: a joined-up plan for justice.
One that looks at courts, prisons, policing, probation and victim support together. Because shifting pressure from one part of a broken system into another isn’t reform. And victims should not be expected to absorb the consequences.
Source: Sky News
