UK crime victims fight ‘devastating’ practice that blocks appeals after cases are dropped | Crown Prosecution Service

A “draconian” practice that prevents crime victims from challenging last-minute decisions to drop their cases is leading to miscarriages of justice and needs urgent reform, campaigners say.

Under the Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) program, victims can appeal decisions not to charge a suspect or to drop a prosecution. Successful appeals can lead to cases being reopened and can result in a conviction.

But the Observer has revealed details of nine rape and sexual offences where the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) failed to offer evidence shortly before trial, leading to the case being closed and the defendant acquitted – before the victim could appeal.

In some cases, the CPS’s decision was later found to be flawed. One woman who found out her rape case was being closed days before trial was told it was because prosecutors had found text messages between her and the accused that undermined the case, when in fact they were from someone else with the same name.

In August, the CPS paid compensation to a rape complainant after she failed to give evidence at trial following a defence claim of “sexsomnia”. A review found the decision was incorrect and should have been challenged in court.

But once a suspect is acquitted, the rules of double jeopardy prevent a retrial. This means that victims can only get an apology or possible compensation from the prosecution if the decision turns out to be wrong, rather than the chance to continue the prosecution.

Following a series of cases, Dame Vera Baird, the former Attorney General and Victims Commissioner for England and Wales, has written to senior prosecutors raising concerns about potential wrongful acquittals and calling on them to intervene.

In a letter sent on Friday to the Attorney General for England and Wales, Lord Richard Hermer KC, and Attorney General Sarah Sackman KC, Baird described the current CPS approach as grossly unfair and said it “undermines a right guaranteed by the statutory Victims Code” by failing to provide evidence, which would lead to a permanent acquittal, before there has been time to complete a VRR.

“It is difficult to see the public interest in finalising a contested decision not to prosecute when there is a live review that could overturn it,” Baird wrote. “Surely the public should be protected from a potential offender by resolving the VRR first, so that the CPS has a second chance to take them to court … It is a time to reflect on how this policy creates injustice.”

Campaigners have long called for reform of the approach to VRRs in ‘no evidence’ cases, arguing that the CPS should delay pursuing acquittal until the review process is complete.

Maxime Rowson, policy lead at Rape Crisis England and Wales, said: “It is completely unacceptable that victims who have been victims of crime, who often spend years navigating the criminal justice system and waiting for a trial date, can see their case come to such a definitive end, sometimes on the day of the trial.

“We call on the CPS to end the draconian practice of not offering evidence, or at the very least to offer victim-survivors the opportunity to appeal the decision before no evidence is offered, so that a case can proceed if the appeals process decides in their favour.”

The CPS said decisions not to provide evidence were “rare and never taken lightly”. A spokesman said: “In the vast majority of cases we get our decisions right first time … but the VRR scheme exists for victims to appeal in those cases where they do not believe we have made the right decision.

“We recognise the profound impact that a decision not to provide evidence can have on victims. That is why we have introduced stricter checks on such decisions in rape or serious sexual assault cases, and we will further review the process for stopping these prosecutions after an allegation has been made.”

It added that only a small proportion of decisions were overturned on appeal – around 1% in total. But official data suggests that for rape and sexual offences the percentage of wrong decisions is significantly higher and has risen in recent years – from around 6% in 2018-19 to 21% in 2023-24.

Experts believe the true number of wrong decisions is much higher than official figures suggest, as many victims whose cases are dropped at a late stage choose not to go through the VRR process. “They want accountability but they think, ‘What’s the point?’,” said Kate Ellis of the Centre for Women’s Justice. “It’s devastating because it’s too late.”

Victim Support said it was aware of five cases of sexual offences in the last six months alone where no evidence was given just before trial, leaving no time for a VRR. Michaela-Clare Addison, the charity’s national lead for sexual violence, said: “Many victim-survivors feel that there is simply no justice, that the system is completely broken.”

The CPS is understood to be reviewing its approach to not providing evidence, but believes that halting legal proceedings to allow VRRs to be completed “would likely amount to an undue delay in ongoing proceedings”.

In a letter to Jade McCrossen-Nethercott, who was awarded £35,000 in damages after her case was closed early following a sexsomnia claim, the court said it would formalise the procedure for entering ‘no evidence’ decisions and would now require approval at the level of the Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor in all rape and sexual offences.

It said the aim of this was to ensure it “got these crucial decisions right first time, without putting the onus on victims to ask for a review”. But McCrossen-Nethercott said it was difficult to gauge how much real change that would bring about when her own case was supposedly escalated – and the decision was still wrong.

Campaigners said there was still a risk of the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) making incorrect but irreversible decisions, without changes being made to allow VRRs to be completed before acquittals are reached.

Ellis said the trials were being delayed for many reasons and that safeguards could be put in place to ensure the VRR request would not be referred to in a future trial, to avoid prejudice to the jury. Campaigners also say that victim assessments could be expedited to reduce delays for defendants.

She described the current CPS approach as “a fundamental injustice”. “There is something very wrong with the fact that victims are not given the opportunity to be investigated before a suspect is acquitted,” she said.

The attorney general’s office was reached for comment but has not yet responded.