The committee, an advisory body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, plays a crucial role in maintaining and revising the procedural framework of the criminal justice system in England and Wales to ensure the rules governing proceedings are fair, accessible, and efficient.

It is made up of the Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales and 17 people appointed by the Lady Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor.

PhD student Becky White, who also has a BSc Social Policy degree, MSc Public Policy and MSc Policy Research from SPS, has been appointed to the role of voluntary sector representative for the next four years due to her academic and professional experience within the victim and witness sector.

Becky is currently researching victim participation within the trial proceedings of the International Criminal Court for her PhD.

She said, “The appointment to the Committee feels significant to my time with the School for Policy Studies as when I returned to study as a mature student, I did so with the aim of being able to improve and affect change at the system level.

“My role on the committee could be described as that of a critical friend, to give consideration to how the Rules might impact upon victims and witnesses.

“Throughout my academic and professional career I have worked to improve the victim and survivor’s experience of criminal justice and wider services. The opportunity to be a member of the committee was an exciting prospect as it would enable me to play a role in shaping the victim experience within the criminal courts at the legislative level.”

Dr Natasha Mulvihill, Associate Professor in Criminology and one of Becky's PhD supervisors, said, "This is a fantastic achievement and reflects Becky's hard work and expertise developed over many years. It also shows how our postgraduate research community are actively making an impact on policy and practice."