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A new package of laws the government claims will strengthen victims\u2019 rights \u201cisn\u2019t worth the paper it\u2019s written on\u201d, a watchdog has said.<\/p>\n
Claire Waxman, the victims\u2019 commissioner for London, said the Victims and Prisoners Bill had been \u201chijacked by Dominic Raab\u201d to increase government powers while diluting its original aims.<\/p>\n
The bill, which was unveiled three weeks before he was forced to resign as justice secretary for bullying civil servants, was originally drafted as the \u201cVictims\u2019 Bill\u201d and underwent lengthy public consultation.<\/p>\n
But Mr Raab bolted on controversial clauses that would have given him the power to veto prisoner releases and change the make-up of parole boards. <\/p>\n
MPs will consider the law on Monday, and Ms Waxman and other victims\u2019 advocates – such as Women\u2019s Aid and The End Violence Against Women Coalition – are calling for them to strip out the former justice secretary\u2019s additions and return to promises first made by the government in 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy initial reaction when I first saw the bill was that I wanted to rip it up as it\u2019s not worth the paper it\u2019s written on,\u201d Ms Waxman told The Independent.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started the campaign for a victims\u2019 law in 2013. It always had cross-party support and it was not supposed to be politicised. We were all on the same page but it seems Dominic Raab hijacked our bill and turned it into something unrecognisable.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is currently no national Victims\u2019 Commissioner in post to scrutinise the plans, after Mr Raab reportedly blocked the re-appointment of Dame Vera Baird last year and restarted a lengthy recruitment process.<\/p>\n
Ms Waxman has written to his successor, Alex Chalk, and victims\u2019 minister Edward Argar calling for them to withdraw the prisoner-focused additions to the bill and strengthen its remaining powers.<\/p>\n
In letters seen by The Independent, she said government interference with release decisions would create more \u201cuncertainty, delay and distress\u201d and could have \u201cdamaging unintended consequences\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Waxman said she believed the power to veto the release of some prisoners breach the European Convention on Human Rights, and could be successfully challenged in court by inmates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been inundated with bereaved families and victims saying \u2018this is awful, it\u2019s not what we\u2019ve asked for\u2019,\u201d she added. \u201cIt won\u2019t deliver any meaningful change to victims in its current format.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dominic Raab resigns as Deputy Prime Minister after bullying investigation<\/p>\n
A report on the original draft Victims\u2019 Bill by parliament\u2019s justice committee said it fell \u201cshort of what is required\u201d and continued to put the onus on victims to \u201cclaim rights they are often unaware of\u201d.<\/p>\n
The government has insisted its proposals put victims \u201cat the heart of the justice system\u201d and that the repackaged law still contained all measures originally promised. <\/p>\n
It aims to put the principles of the Victims\u2019 Code, which provides minimum standards of treatment, on a statutory footing and enhance scrutiny of prisons, probation, police and the courts.<\/p>\n
The bill will also create an independent public advocate to represent the interests of people affected by disasters like Hillsborough, the Manchester Arena bombing and the Grenfell Tower fire.<\/p>\n
New parts would give the justice secretary the power to \u201cveto the release\u201d of a new tier of offenders including murderers, rapists and terrorists in the interest of public safety, the Ministry of Justice said.<\/p>\n
It is not possible for the government to extend a court\u2019s sentence or prevent release indefinitely, so any veto would increase the period spent in custody against the time released on licence under probation monitoring.<\/p>\n
The bill would also create a legal requirement for ex-police officers and detectives to sit on parole panels for \u201ctop-tier\u201d cases.<\/p>\n
It aims to legally ban prisoners serving whole-life orders from marrying or forming a civil partnership – although only 66 inmates in England and Wales are currently subject to the term, and officials could only point to one who had attempted to marry.<\/p>\n
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: \u201cPublic protection is our number one priority and our parole reforms will ensure perpetrators face the strictest test before they are released and that victims\u2019 voices are heard louder during the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bill will improve support for victims at every stage, setting out a clear expectation of the help and information they should receive from the police and courts, while enshrining the principles of the Victims\u2019 Code in law.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines email A new package of laws the government claims will strengthen victims\u2019 rights \u201cisn\u2019t worth the paper it\u2019s written on\u201d, a watchdog has said. Claire Waxman, the victims\u2019 commissioner for London, said the Victims and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n