Victims of rape and serious sexual assault cases in Scotland will be the first in the UK to have free access to court transcripts under a pilot scheme.
The year-long project, which begins on Friday, will give access to transcripts without payment of fees that can total thousands of pounds.
Complainers can apply for transcripts if their case was heard at the High Court from 2007 onwards – when digital recording began at Scotland’s court service.
It will apply to all sexual assault trials, no matter what verdict was returned.
The Scottish government said the aim of the pilot was to improve victims’ experience of the justice system.
It will provide £100,000 funding to cover fees for accessing transcripts.
Hannah Stakes, who has spent years calling for better access to information, welcomed the move.
The 33-year-old had been campaigning for change after her rape case – which dated back to 2018 – resulted in a not proven verdict.
She almost gave up after giving evidence at the Scottish Parliament’s justice committee in November 2021, raising with MSPs the issue of access to transcripts.
She begged the committee to give her the information and her plea led to the pilot programme which will begin on Friday.
Ms Stakes described the changes as “a long time coming” and believes access to court transcripts should be a fundamental right for those who need it.
She said the court experience was worse than the incident itself.
“When I came out [of the trial], it was just a very confusing thing to experience,” she said.
“I felt like I needed a copy of that information in my hand. It’s my story.
“These transcripts pertain to the most harrowing incidents in my life.
“The assault itself and then the trial – which in my case I’d consider to be a lot worse.”
>a transcript costing £100 per hour of transcription.
3 comments
Victims of rape and serious sexual assault cases in Scotland will be the first in the UK to have free access to court transcripts under a pilot scheme.
The year-long project, which begins on Friday, will give access to transcripts without payment of fees that can total thousands of pounds.
Complainers can apply for transcripts if their case was heard at the High Court from 2007 onwards – when digital recording began at Scotland’s court service.
It will apply to all sexual assault trials, no matter what verdict was returned.
The Scottish government said the aim of the pilot was to improve victims’ experience of the justice system.
It will provide £100,000 funding to cover fees for accessing transcripts.
Hannah Stakes, who has spent years calling for better access to information, welcomed the move.
The 33-year-old had been campaigning for change after her rape case – which dated back to 2018 – resulted in a not proven verdict.
She almost gave up after giving evidence at the Scottish Parliament’s justice committee in November 2021, raising with MSPs the issue of access to transcripts.
She begged the committee to give her the information and her plea led to the pilot programme which will begin on Friday.
Ms Stakes described the changes as “a long time coming” and believes access to court transcripts should be a fundamental right for those who need it.
She said the court experience was worse than the incident itself.
“When I came out [of the trial], it was just a very confusing thing to experience,” she said.
“I felt like I needed a copy of that information in my hand. It’s my story.
“These transcripts pertain to the most harrowing incidents in my life.
“The assault itself and then the trial – which in my case I’d consider to be a lot worse.”
>a transcript costing £100 per hour of transcription.
WTF
Are we still using shorthand and not [Stenotype machines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenotype) that the US has used for probably a century?
A good move, but £100k will not go far if its thousands of pounds per case.