Dame Vera Baird KC said she would not stay on beyond her current term on September 30, accusing the government of undermining the interests of victims, reducing her access to ministers and failing to provide clarity on reappointment her. He said he had not met the former chancellor, Dominic Raab, who resigned earlier this month, since January, a lack of engagement that reflected poorly on the Justice Department’s priorities. Dame Vera Baird will end her term as Victims’ Commissioner at the end of September. Dame Vera Baird has written to the Minister for Justice to inform him that she is not seeking a further extension of her term. Her contract expires on Friday 30 September 2022. pic.twitter.com/c3PMFB90Ln — Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales (@VictimsComm) September 23, 2022 In a resignation letter to his replacement, Brandon Lewis, Baird also criticized the state of the criminal justice system and Raab’s plans for a UK Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act, which she said “threatens so seriously the human rights of victims which undermines the little progress that the bill for victims is going to bring. I was told that the bill of rights is going to come back in some form and that its withdrawal was only temporary. “Furthermore, little has been done to effectively deal with the huge and devastating backlog of cases, particularly at the Crown Court where the most serious crimes are tried. This has exposed the victims of these crimes to unbearable delay, anguish and uncertainty. It is no exaggeration to say that the criminal justice system is in disarray. “This relegation of victims’ interests to the government’s priorities, together with the marginalization of the Office of the Victims’ Commissioner and the strange recruitment process make it clear to me that there is nothing to be gained for victims by remaining in office beyond from the current extension. “ Byrd’s first three-year term was set to end in June. Rather than reappoint her like her predecessor, Raab told her the position would be open to competition, but at the same time encouraged her to apply, she wrote. Her term has been extended twice in a process that Baird said has led to uncertainty for her already troubled and destabilized office, describing her latest request to reapply as seemingly “a ploy to keep me in my seat as a nominal position holder in the short term. condition rather than a genuine invitation’. Baird has been particularly vocal about violence against women, an issue that came under the spotlight again last year after the killing of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police officer. He said police forces should be required to tackle violence against women and girls with the same level of resources, expertise and urgency as terrorism or organized crime. Baird claimed rape had effectively been decriminalized as a result of the collapse of prosecutions and accused the director of public prosecutions for England and Wales, Max Hill, of presiding over a “disastrous” period in the history of the Crown Prosecution Service, with convictions for rape. having reached an all-time low. Baird’s criticism of Raab for not meeting with her echoes complaints from Criminal Bar Association (CBA) leaders that she had refused to meet with them since its members began industrial action in April. Instead, Lewis met the CBA on Tuesday, after the Queen’s mourning period ended. When lawyers escalated their action over legal aid fees into an indefinite walkout this month, Baird described it as “the latest symptom of a criminal justice system that is severely underfunded and reckless”.