NI sex crime review: Key points not yet implemented

Just 11% of 253 recommendations of a major review into how NI handles serious sex offence cases have been implemented over the past 14 months.

An update on Sir John Gillen's review, published by the justice department, reveals many of his key proposals will not be in place until 2021 or 2022.

When he published the report 14 months ago, he hoped many of his proposals would be acted upon within months.

They included limiting public access to trials involving serious sex offences.

The retired judge was tasked to review procedures in 2018, following the case of ex-Ulster rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding, who were acquitted of rape charges at a high-profile trial.

Other measures included preventing "improper cross-examination about previous sexual history" of complainants and new legislation "to manage the dangers created by social media".

Justice Minister Naomi Long said the publication of the implementation plan was "an important step" in improving things.

Implementation of recommendations had originally been earmarked to complete by 2023, but this has now been extended to 2025.

The plan states the timeline has been hit by the impact of Covid-19.

Measures in place already include steps to tackle delays in cases and expediting those involving offences against children under 13.

When Sir John issued his report, he said only around 25% of improvements required changes to legislation.

The implementation plan published on Thursday includes the establishment of new "remote evidence centre" among its strategic priorities.

This would mean victims of sexual crime being allowed to give evidence without going to court, as they could instead testify from an undisclosed location.

The aim of the remote evidence centre is to "reduce the re-traumatisation of complainants" during the legal process and ensure they do not meet the accused when attending court.

Other strategic priority areas include giving additional support to young victims and witnesses by providing a "child-friendly" approach that would reduce "re-victimisation".

The priorities also includes changing the lengthy process of how sexual offence cases come before courts - proposed new legislation would remove the use of oral evidence as part of the committal process.

New arrangements could also mean relevant cases bypass the committal process entirely so they can be transferred to the Crown Court at an earlier stage.

The Department of Justice has also prioritised efforts to "dispel prejudicial rape myths" among jurors and the public in general, which it hopes will lead to "wider cultural and societal change and better justice outcomes".

The department also said it was working on the detail of legislative proposals to restrict access to the court in relation to serious sexual offences as recommended in the report and expected those to be included in the next Justice Bill.

In a statement, the justice minister said: "Cases involving sexual crime are some of the most intrusive and difficult for victims to endure.

"We want to do everything in our power to support victims of these crimes through every stage of their journey through the justice system

"The completion of this implementation plan marks an important step towards the delivery of better outcomes in these cases."