Lawyers representing victims and survivors of child abuse have welcomed the Government’s decision to abolish the three-year time limit on pursuing civil claims against abusers.
“Scrapping the wholly inappropriate three-year time limit is the right and just thing to do to help some of the most wronged people in our society,” said Kim Harrison, president of not-for-profit campaign organisation APIL (the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers).
“It takes a survivor of sexual abuse 24 to 27 years on average to be able to tell a soul about the abuse they suffered, let alone pursue justice, for reasons including overwhelming fear, trauma, and mistrust in authorities,” explained Ms Harrison, who represented survivors in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
“The law in England and Wales has expected child abuse survivors to bring civil claims for the life-altering impact of the abuse within three years of them turning 18. For victims and survivors to find the strength to bring their cases and then to be told that they were not quick enough to act is devastating, and a significant barrier to justice,” she went on.
“The announcement brings with it some much-needed clarity for survivors. It will now be the burden of defendants to prove that the passage of time has created an unfair trial rather than on the victim or survivor to prove a fair trial is possible,” said Ms Harrison.
Today’s announcement delivers on one of the recommendations of the IICSA, which heard thousands of testimonies from child abuse survivors.
“Abolishing the time limit will bring England and Wales in line with Scotland, which already scrapped it back in 2017,” Ms Harrison added.
“The Government now really needs to take some further positive action on the recommendations of the inquiry and launch a full and proper consultation on a redress scheme. Victims and survivors who cannot face taking a case through the courts must have a workable alternative as an option to pursue the justice they need,” she said.