London human rights firm Bindmans has teamed up with survivor organisations in a ‘super-complaint’ over what it says are ‘excessively lengthy’ police investigations into alleged sexual offences.

The complaint, designed to identify systematic issues within policing in England and Wales which cannot be dealt with by existing complaints systems, was submitted by Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre, Centre of Women’s Justice, Rape Crisis England & Wales and Bindmans.

The organisations argue lengthy investigations into sexual offences are ‘inhumane for those survivors whose cases become effectively stuck’ and ‘legally untenable representing a potential systemic breach on the part of the UK government to effectively deliver its positive obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights’. The super-complaint also raises concerns about how police forces monitor timeliness.

India Cooper, a solicitor in Bindmans public law and human rights team, said: ‘Excessive delays in the investigation of sexual offences have become a widespread feature of policing across the UK and risk breaching survivors’ human rights by denying them prompt and effective access to justice. As this super-complaint highlights, when survivors are left waiting many years for justice, their trauma is prolonged and their safety is undermined. We urge policing bodies to act now - survivors deserve thorough and effective investigations, not silence and delay.’

Data from the Home Office, via a freedom of information request made by the organisations, revealed 37,188 investigations into alleged sexual offences have taken longer than three years to investigate, more than half have taken longer than four years.

In March 2025, some 13,949 sexual offence investigations that had been open for more than three years – 1,716 had been ongoing for more than seven years, the super-complaint said.

Read more

Maxime Rowson, head of policy and public Affairs at Rape Crisis England & Wales, said: ‘When you add soaring police investigative delays to the delays caused by the Crown court backlog, the picture is one of thousands of survivors who make the decision to report sexual violence, only to be being asked to engage with a process that no longer resembles a functioning justice system.

‘This super-complaint shows systemic failures by police to conduct timely investigations, affecting thousands of survivors. Prolonged delays risk breaching the state’s duties under the ECHR to investigate serious crimes effectively and in some cases, prevent justice altogether, as survivors understandably withdraw due to stress and distress, memories fade, and perpetrators pass away before cases reach trial.’

The super-complaint warned that without solutions, those ‘failed so significantly by the criminal justice system will turn increasingly to the civil courts in an attempt to have their rights upheld, and substantial damages and costs will be payable’.