09 Mar 2026 Victims Face Justice Waits Until 2030 Without Court Reform, Warns Commissioner
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
As Parliament gears up to debate major court reforms, the Victims’ Commissioner has sounded the alarm over trial dates stretching as far as 2030. Claire Waxman OBE warns these shocking delays are pushing the justice system to breaking point, urging MPs to put victims at the heart of reform talks.
Victims’ Commissioner Demands Urgent Action
In a bold open letter to MPs, Claire Waxman calls for more than just investments and efficiency tweaks ahead of the Courts and Tribunals Bill Second Reading on 10 March. She says deep structural reforms are the only way to fix the crisis.
“The Government asked Sir Brian Leveson to find a way out before the system collapses,” Waxman writes. “His conclusion is clear: investment and efficiency alone will no longer solve this crisis. Structural reform is now unavoidable.”
Jury Trials Causing Critical Delays
Waxman highlights that endless waits for jury trials are causing victims to lose faith in justice. Many would choose a speedy judge-led trial over a years-long wait for a jury verdict.
“Justice delayed is not an abstract principle – it is the compounding and prolonging of trauma,” says Waxman.
She urges MPs: “Please listen to victims: their voices, their stories, and the reality of the waits they endure. Without them, there will be no justice.”
Warning: Without Reform, the System Could Collapse
Waxman warns that endless Parliamentary debate without urgent reform risks driving victims away. “If victims stop engaging, more cases collapse, offenders gain impunity, and public safety plummets,” she says.
This follows her earlier calls after Sir Brian Leveson’s review, which stressed that only bold, system-wide change can stop the courts from falling apart.
“Without bold reform, how can I, as Victims’ Commissioner, ask victims to trust a broken system?” she asks.
