§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What amount of criminal compensation has been paid since 1994, following convictions for sexual offences based on uncorroborated allegations; and whether they will review the justification for such payments. [HL2240]
§ Lord RookerWhere a court of law, having considered all the evidence presented to it, has found that a person named in an indictment as the victim of alleged sexual abuse was beyond reasonable doubt the victim of that crime, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) and, where appropriate, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel (CICAP) would not normally question the nature of the evidence on which that finding was based. For this and other reasons the statistics the noble Lord seeks are not available.
In determining eligibility for criminal injuries compensation, CICA and CICAP seek to establish whether, on the balance of probabilities, the applicant has been the blameless victim of a crime of violence such as sexual abuse.
Where a court has found beyond reasonable doubt that the person was the victim of a crime of violence, CICA and CICAP would not normally be expected to reach a different conclusion on the balance of probabilities.