Scotland has launched a pilot scheme that will make court transcripts free of charge for victims of rape and serious sexual assault cases. The project will run for a year and provide digital access to court transcripts from 2007 onwards, when digital recording in Scotland’s court service began. The transcripts will be available without the need to pay the fees that can total thousands of pounds. It will give access to all sexual assault trials, regardless of the verdict. This move makes Scotland the first country in the United Kingdom to do so.
The objective of the pilot project is to enhance victims’ experience of the justice system. The Scottish government aims to provide £100,000 in funding to cover the accessing fees of the court documents. Survivors who had their cases heard at the High Court from 2007 onwards will be eligible to apply for the transcripts.
Hannah Stakes, who gave evidence in Scotland’s Justice committee in November 2021 regarding her case of rape, believes that the initiative is long overdue. She stated that access to court transcripts is “a basic human right” for everyone and praised the pilot scheme. Stakes further stated that the transcripts “hold the story of the most harrowing incidents in my life.”
In another example, rape survivor Ellie Wilson, 26, was charged £3,000 to access court transcripts of the case where her rapist was jailed for five years in 2022. She welcomed the pilot scheme and described it as providing transparency in the justice process. She explained that access to the transcripts was vital for her recovery. Survivors “should not be priced out of accessing vital data” relevant to their recovery, she added. Access to the court documents will help victims gain closure and understand what happened during the case.
The pilot project will be part of a series of measures the Scottish Government has proposed to improve victims’ experiences of the justice system. Angela Constance, Scottish Government Justice Secretary, said that sexual assault victims reported that the court process could be traumatic for them. The pilot, along with proposed reforms in the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, aims to “reduce the trauma” of victims and give them confidence in the justice system. The government will work with the Scottish courts service to investigate how technology can be used to minimize the cost of transcripts.
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