THE three-year limit on compensation claims from victims of kid sexual abuse is to be axed by the Government in a push to enact more recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
This signifies that victims and survivors will have the ability to bring personal-injury claims at any time when they feel able to disclose. Currently, civil claims for child sexual abuse should be brought inside three years of turning 18, unless the victim can prove that a good trial can proceed despite the time lapse. IICSA reported that a “significant number” of claims were being rejected since it could take “many years for survivors to feel in a position to discuss their sexual abuse”; and this included cases of church-related abuse.
The change is considered one of three announced by the Ministry of Justice last week, after two consultations with survivors and experts. Bills are expected in the following yr.
The burden of proof can be to be “lifted off victims and placed on defendants, who must show a good trial cannot proceed in the event that they intend to dam one. This will enable cases to be heard more easily, and protect victims from reliving their trauma.”
The law of apologies is to be amended to encourage employers to apologise to people wronged by their employees, without fearing institutional liability. The Government says that victims are, due to this fact, more prone to receive apologies from schools, care facilities, or hospitals for abuse carried out by a person at these institutions.
IICSA was chaired by Professor Alexis Jay, who presented its findings in October 2022 (News, 20 October 2022).
The Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, said: “Child sexual abuse causes lifelong trauma, and these vital changes, beneficial by Professor Jay, are long overdue. These measures help survivors pursue their path to justice. They construct on the Government’s mission of halving violence against women and girls, and support our Plan for Change.”
