New legislation seeks to put victims at the heart of the criminal justice system

May 12, 2026 | By: Sharron Boyce

The Victims and Courts Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. the main aim of the new legislation is to improve victims’ experiences within the criminal justice system ensuring that their needs, voices and rights are properly addressed. The legislation also seeks to increase offender accountability.

Some of the key measures introduced include compelled attendance of defendants at sentencing hearings, restrictions on parental responsibility for those convicted of certain child sexual offences and extending the time limit for a referral of the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme.

Compelling defendants to attend sentencing hearings

This aspect of the legislation is known as ‘Oliva’s Law’. It follows a campaign led by the mother of Olivia Pratt-Korbel who was tragically shot and killed in August 2022 in her home. The killer Thomas Cashman refused to come up from his cell to attend the sentencing hearing and to hear the impact statements prepared by Olivia’s family and the Judge’s sentencing remarks. Other high-profile offenders who have refused to attend their sentencing hearings include Lucy Letby, Kyle Clifford and Axel Rudakubana.

The new measures will give Judges the power to order offenders to attend their sentencing hearings. Failure to attend, without reasonable excuse, could result in an additional custodial sentence of 24 months. Reasonable force may be used, where it is necessary and proportionate to do so, to ensure that an offender (over the age of 18) attends their sentencing hearing. Restrictions on the offender’s privileges such as visitation rights, may also be imposed.

A statement on the website of the charity Olivia’s Butterfly Foundation (set up by Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s family) stated “Olivia’s Law will ensure that no other families are stripped of their opportunities to begin their journey of justice and closure. The justice system will see victims and their families and their needs put first before the desires of criminals.”

We previously wrote about the perceived difficulties in forcing offenders into the dock for sentencing hearings and the impact of using reasonable force to bring an unwilling and potentially violent offender into court (e.g. the personal safety of prison security and dock officers). As yet no practical guidance has been provided as to how representations can be made to the Court to seek to challenge the order to force an offender to attend. Further concerns have been levied about the potential to retraumatise the family of the victim where an offender is brought to court against their will and then proceeds to seek to disrupt the sentencing hearing.

Unduly Lenient Scheme (ULS)

The ULS allows for anyone to ask for a review by the Attorney General’s Office of certain Crown Court sentences where they believe it is too low. Previously the strict deadline for applying was 28 days. A campaign lead by the mother of Josh Hanson (who was murdered in 2015) who was only informed of the ULS on the 28^th day after the sentencing hearing. Despite making an immediate application, the review was refused as the request was made out of time. The time limit for applying under the ULS has now been increased to six months. to allow sufficient time for victim’s families to process the impact of the sentencing hearing and to take advice.