Britain’s courts have been given carte blanche to open as long as necessary in order to clear a backlog of trials, including rape cases, which has meant that in some cases victims have had to wait five years for justice.
Earlier this month the Home Affairs Committee published a report which showed the average number of days between a rape complaint being made to conviction rose from 2,393 days in 2016 to 2,767 days in 2021 (data to September).
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has agreed there would be no limit on the number of days or hours that crown courts could sit in the 2022–2023 financial year.
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