Susanne Tanner KC

The review of the approach of the Crown Office to these cases was commissioned by Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC in December 2021.

The review’s terms of reference were published in November 2022 and the work took place over three years in which there were various political and legal developments in the way in which sexual offences are dealt with.

The review heard hundreds of contributions from victims, third sector support organisations, charities, COPFS staff, prosecutors, defence lawyers, government, police officers, judges, courts service, Bairns’ Hoose, academics and business leaders, in Scotland, England and Wales, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States.

Ms Bain said: “I am grateful to Susanne Tanner KC for carrying out this review. She has made a significant contribution to this crucial area of work.

“The recommendations of this review will not only assist COPFS in its ongoing process of change, they will also inform wider justice reform, building a system which recognises, respects and responds to the needs of victims.”

Ms Tanner, chair of the review, said: “Central to our approach was how best to gather and reflect the views and experiences of victims of sexual crime. It is clear from evidence we gathered and from the literature about sexual offences that victims of sexual crime and the third sector organisations supporting them have been saying the same things, in different forums, for what seems like an endless period of time.

“Nonetheless, it was important for me to meet victims of sexual crime who wanted to take part in the review and share their experiences of the prosecution process. The victims’ contributions and those of the third sector organisations supporting them were a cornerstone of the review.’

Ms Tanner made 197 recommendations and four observations.

They include: improved communication with victims; national legal leaders for sexual offences; a ‘lived experience board’ to allow victims to participate in policy development; more effective collaboration with the third sector, police and courts service; wellbeing support for prosecutors and staff; increased accessibility and transparency of Crown Office sexual offences policy; embedding trauma-informed practice and the rights of the accused in specialist training for prosecutors and staff; improved record keeping and collection of statistical data on sexual offences; and finding creative and rights’ respecting ways of seeking the views of children and young people.

Ms Tanner added: “My vision is for COPFS to take a unified approach to sexual offence cases in which staff are empowered through specialist training and welfare support to do a difficult job; in which victims are supported and have their rights respected throughout the prosecution process, while respecting the rights of the accused; and in which there is genuine, positive and effective collaboration with Police Scotland, SCTS, Scottish government, the third sector and the wider legal profession.”