Victims in rape cases must not feel like they are on trial, Burnham says

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said victims in rape cases must not feel like they are on trial, as he responded to concerns raised during proceedings involving Russell Brand. The comments place the treatment of complainants in serious sexual offence cases back at the centre of debate about the justice system in England and Wales, and they come after a police chief said remarks made during the trial came close to what he described as victim blaming. Burnham was speaking on Saturday, according to the BBC report, and his intervention is likely to be read as a signal that the government wants the courtroom experience for complainants to be a focus of any wider discussion about reform.

Why the Prime Minister intervened

The BBC summary says Burnham was responding directly to the police chief’s warning, which gives the exchange a particular weight. A serving police chief raising the language of victim blaming is not a routine comment on an individual case, and a prime ministerial response is not routine either. Taken together, the two interventions suggest that questions about how complainants are questioned, described and treated in court are being treated as a matter of public policy rather than simply case management. The report does not set out the full context of the remarks that prompted the concern, and it does not publish any new finding about the trial itself, so it is important to keep the distinction clear between criticism of courtroom treatment and any judgment on the evidence heard.

For many campaigners and legal experts, the issue is familiar. Sexual offence trials are adversarial by design, and defence questioning is intended to test accounts rigorously. The difficulty, as critics argue, is that the process can cross a line from testing an account to putting the complainant’s character, choices or behaviour at the centre of the case. Burnham’s formulation, that victims must not feel like they are on trial, is deliberately simple. It does not propose a specific rule change, but it frames the test in terms of perception and dignity, which is how complainants themselves often describe the experience after the event.

What it means for complainants and courts

In practice, the criminal justice system in England and Wales already has a range of measures aimed at protecting vulnerable witnesses, including special measures such as screens, video links and pre-recorded evidence in some circumstances. Whether those measures are used consistently, and whether they are enough in complex jury trials, is a separate question from the wider cultural issue of courtroom language. The BBC report does not detail which measures, if any, were in place in this case, nor does it say whether any formal complaint has been made about the conduct of the trial. Without those details, the safest reading is that Burnham is setting a tone for the system as a whole, rather than announcing a case-specific remedy.

The intervention also lands at a time when public confidence in the handling of sexual offence cases remains a recurring concern. Police forces, prosecutors and courts have all faced criticism in recent years about delays, attrition rates and the number of cases that do not reach trial. A prime minister speaking about complainant experience will therefore be heard well beyond the specifics of one trial. It raises expectations that the system will be judged not only on convictions and sentences, but on whether people are willing to come forward in the first place and stay engaged through a process that can take many months or longer.

Why it matters

How complainants experience the courts affects reporting, cooperation with police and willingness to give evidence, which in turn affects whether serious offences are prosecuted at all. Burnham’s comments give ministers and justice agencies a clear public standard against which to measure practice, from police interviews through to jury trials. If the standard is taken seriously, it will need to be translated into training, guidance and courtroom management, not left as a general principle.

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What happens next

The BBC report does not say whether Burnham will meet police leaders, prosecutors or victims’ groups, or whether any review of courtroom practice is planned. Attention will now turn to whether the police chief’s concerns lead to any formal assessment of what was said during the trial, and whether the wider justice system responds with concrete guidance for judges, barristers and police witnesses. Until then, the prime minister’s remarks stand as a public statement of principle, and the pressure will be on the institutions involved to show how that principle is applied in practice.