Victim legal representation, procedural change and adversarial criminal trial reform: Systemic support for sex offences victims and survivors in Victoria

Abstract

The Victorian Law Reform Commission's (VLRC) 2021 report, Improving the Justice System Response to Sexual Offences, makes several recommendations to transform the adversarial criminal trial by encouraging systemic change in greater support of sex offences complainants. By recommending funded legal representation up until jury trial and across related hearings, the VLRC has gone further than past inquiries by offering representation across the criminal trial process. Legal representation would be tasked with protecting the interest of victims by exercising limited rights, specifically: privilege in relation to evidence, including confidential communication, access to alternative arrangements, special protections, and intermediaries; rights to privacy in relation to personal information, including sexual history, during cross-examination, or lifting suppression orders; rights to compensation; and advice on the consequences of participating in restorative justice referrals. This article assesses the scope of change proposed by the VLRC to transform the adversarial criminal trial experience for sex offences survivors.