# Victims and Courts Act 2026, Paragraph 25: Victims’ rights to receive information

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

After Chapter 2 (inserted by paragraph 24 of this Schedule) insert—
“Chapter 3
Information: powers etc
Power to disclose information to victims
44M (1) This section applies if—
(a) one of the conditions specified in the table is met in relation to a person (“the offender”),
(b) the provider of probation services receives a request for information to be provided in accordance with this section from a person who appears to the provider to be the victim of the offence in respect of which the condition is met or of similar criminal conduct carried out by the offender, or to act for such a victim, and
(c) the provider of probation services considers that the victim would be at risk of physical or psychological harm if the information is not provided in accordance with this section.
Condition
Specified provision
the person is serving a sentence of imprisonment or detention in England and Wales in respect of an offence
section 44C
a hospital order is made with a restriction order in relation to the person by a court dealing with the person for an offence
section 44D
a hospital order is made without a restriction order in relation to the person by a court dealing with the person for an offence
section 44F
a hospital direction and a limitation direction are given in relation to the person by a court dealing with the person for an offence
section 44H
the Secretary of State gives a transfer direction with a restriction direction in respect of the person while the person is serving a sentence of imprisonment or detention in England and Wales in respect of an offence
section 44J
the Secretary of State gives a transfer direction without a restriction direction in respect of the person while the person is serving a sentence of imprisonment or detention in England and Wales in respect of an offence
section 44K
(2) The provider of probation services may provide the person who made the request with any information that would be required or permitted to be provided to that person (by the provider or otherwise) under Chapter 2 of this Part if the request were made under the provision specified in the relevant entry in column 2 of the table.
(3) Where—
(a) a person would be required or permitted to provide information to the provider of probation services or to the managers of a hospital under Chapter 2 of this Part if the request mentioned in subsection (1)(b) were made under the provision specified in the relevant entry in column 2 of the table, and
(b) the provider of probation services or hospital managers request the information from that person,
that person must take all reasonable steps to provide the information to the provider or hospital managers.
(4) In this section—
(a) “offence” includes an offence under the law of any place outside England and Wales;
(b) “similar criminal conduct”, in relation to an offence, means conduct that—
(i) the provider of probation services considers to be similar to the conduct constituting the offence, and
(ii) itself constitutes an offence;
(c) “victim” includes a person who is a victim within the meaning of section 1 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 by virtue of subsection (2)(a) of that section.
Victim impact statements where hospital order made with restriction order
44N (1) This section applies where—
(a) one of these applies in respect of a person (“the patient”) charged with an offence—
(i) the patient is convicted of the offence;
(ii) a verdict is returned that the patient is not guilty of the offence by reason of insanity;
(iii) a finding is made under section 4 of the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964 that the patient is under a disability, and under section 4A of that Act that the patient did the act or made the omission charged against the patient as the offence,
(b) a hospital order is made with a restriction order in respect of the patient by a court dealing with the patient for the offence,
(c) the provider of probation services provides information in accordance with section 44M about the patient to a person who appears to the provider to be the victim of the offence, or to act for the victim of the offence,
(d) either—
(i) an application is made to the First-tier Tribunal or the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales by the patient under section 69, 70 or 75 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (applications concerning restricted patients), or
(ii) the Secretary of State refers the patient’s case to the tribunal under section 71 or 75 of that Act (references concerning restricted patients), and
(e) the provider of probation services considers it appropriate to give the person who appears to the provider to be the victim of the offence the opportunity to provide a victim impact statement under this section.
(2) The provider of probation services—
(a) must take all reasonable steps to ascertain whether the person who appears to the provider to be the victim of the offence wishes to provide a victim impact statement to the provider, and
(b) if the person provides such a statement, must forward it to the tribunal.
(3) Where a victim impact statement has been forwarded to the tribunal under subsection (2), the tribunal must—
(a) allow the person who made the statement to request permission to read the statement to the tribunal at a relevant hearing, and
(b) grant such permission unless the tribunal considers that there are good reasons not to.
(4) The tribunal may have regard to the statement when determining any of the following matters (but must not have regard to it for any other purpose)—
(a) whether the patient should be subject to any conditions in the event of the patient’s discharge from hospital while a restriction order is in force in respect of the patient;
(b) if so, what conditions;
(c) what conditions the patient should be subject to in the event of the patient’s discharge from hospital under a community treatment order.
(5) In this section—
“relevant hearing” means any hearing held by the tribunal before making a decision which disposes of proceedings on the application or reference mentioned in subsection (1)(d);
“victim” includes a person who is a victim within the meaning of section 1 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 by virtue of subsection (2)(a) of that section;
“victim impact statement” means a statement about the way in which, and the degree to which, the offence has affected and (as the case may be) continues to affect the victim or any other person.
Saving for other powers of provider of probation services
44O Nothing in this Part limits any power that the provider of probation services has otherwise than under this Part.”

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/19/schedule/2/paragraph/25 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/victims-and-courts-act-2026/schedule-2/paragraph-25
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.