Yousaf vows pilot scheme to give rape victims free access to court transcripts

A pilot scheme will see victims of rape and other sexual offences given free access to court transcripts, the First Minister has said.

Obtaining a transcript of a court case can currently cost thousands of pounds and campaigners have called for this to be made free in cases involving rape and sexual assault.

Humza Yousaf was asked about the issue as he appeared before a meeting of Holyrood committee conveners on Wednesday.

Audrey Nicoll, who convenes the Justice Committee, said transcripts could be used to help victims recover or as part of future civil proceedings.

The First Minister praised the work of rape survivor Ellie Wilson, who has spoken publicly about the difficulty of obtaining the transcript of her own case.

She has said the costs present a barrier to obtaining justice for victims of sexual offences.

Mr Yousaf said: “For anybody that does follow Ellie, you will see that some of the responses to her social media posts will remind you of just how much work we still have to do in combating rape myths.”

He said the Government will commit to supporting a pilot scheme to allow access to transcripts “initially focused on complainers in sexual offences cases”.

Last year, the Justice Committee backed calls for access to transcripts to be made easier.

Ms Wilson, who was quoted a figure of £3,000 to access her court transcript, said she welcomed Mr Yousaf’s commitment.

The campaigner, who was raped while a student at Glasgow University, crowdfunded the money in order to make a complaint against her attacker’s defence lawyer.

She said: “This is an extremely welcome move, but one which is overdue.

“The prohibitively high cost of transcripts create barriers to justice and accountability in the legal profession, which only encourages inappropriate courtroom behaviour.

“No-one should have to crowdfund to access their court transcript, especially when such transcripts are necessary to corroborate complaints about court conduct.

“Allowing survivors access to transcripts may also help assist them in making sense of what happened during the trial, which can aid in processing trauma.

“It is fundamentally antidemocratic to price people out of justice, so I’m pleased action is being taken to rectify this issue.”