The Victims and Prisoners Bill has reached the committee stage at the House of Lords, where a number of amendments to the legislation, which could have an impact on Family Court proceedings, are being considered.
Several proposed amendments have been subject to debate, including a ban on unregulated psychologists giving assessments of domestic abuse victims, a ban on people accused of domestic abuse from accessing survivors’ medical records, and a ban on those on bail or awaiting trial for domestic abuse, child abuse or a sexual offence from having unsupervised contact with their children.
The Victims and Prisoners Bill was introduced to Parliament in March 2023, in a bid to fundamentally transform victims’ experience of the criminal justice system. Further information can be found at https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3443.