In an exclusive piece for The Mirror, the UK's newly appointed Victims' Commissioner, Claire Waxman, has issued a stark warning about a justice system in crisis, drawing from her own two-decade ordeal as a stalking victim.
Waxman, who officially began her role on Monday, 8th January 2026, writes that while victims now possess more legal rights than ever, accessing actual justice has become harder. She describes the painful reality of being failed by the very structures designed to offer protection.
A Personal Battle Shapes a Professional Mission
Her personal experience with persistent stalking over twenty years fundamentally shaped her life's work, driving her to campaign for landmark legislation like the Victims and Prisoners Act. These were vital victories that enshrined victims' rights in law.
However, Waxman stresses that rights written on paper are meaningless without a functional system to uphold them. "A law can promise access to justice and support, but only a functioning court system can deliver it," she states.
The expectation for victims is simple: report a crime and the system responds with a swift, fair process. The reality in 2026, she argues, is a profound shock. Reporting a crime often means entering a protracted waiting room, a holding pattern that exacerbates trauma rather than alleviating it.
The Crushing Weight of the Court Backlog
Waxman reveals the staggering scale of the problem. The court backlog in England and Wales has now reached nearly 80,000 cases, double the figure seen before the pandemic. This represents 80,000 lives left in limbo.
She reports meeting victims whose trial dates are scheduled as far away as 2030, with many crimes from the last decade still awaiting their day in court. "Children have become adults and lives have been irrevocably changed," she writes, highlighting the human cost of delay.
Without decisive intervention, projections suggest the backlog could balloon to 125,000 cases by the end of the current Parliament. Waxman brands this a "monstrous dereliction of duty." The consequence is heartbreakingly predictable: exhausted victims, unable to sustain the wait, walk away from the process entirely.
Radical Reforms and the Victim's Voice
Faced with a system described by Sir Brian Leveson as broken beyond minor fixes, the government has proposed radical changes. These include potential judge-only trials to bypass the jury trial gridlock, a move set for fierce debate.
While acknowledging these proposals challenge tradition, Waxman insists the status quo is untenable. "A system that forces a rape survivor to wait five or more years for their chance at justice is not working. This is justice in name only," she asserts.
As Victims' Commissioner, her core mission will be to ensure the victim's perspective is central in the coming debates about legal reform. She pledges to scrutinise every proposal through one lens: does it deliver swift and effective justice for those harmed by crime?
Her final message is clear: the UK must stop asking the impossible of victims and start building a system worthy of their trust—one that functions in practice, not just in theory.
