Measures to allow domestic violence and child abuse victims to challenge sentences which are perceived to be too lenient come into force today.

The Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, which has been extended to include 14 more offences, allows victims of child sexual crimes, stalking and harassment to challenge sentences handed down in the Crown Court.

However, Solicitor General Michael Ellis QC MP, said the bar for cases to be accepted for review is set high, raising concerns over whether the scheme will offer victims of violence the relief, and justice, they seek.

Further concerns have been raised by domestic violence campaigners who say that the scheme simply places the burden of a fair trial on the shoulders of victims, and that the jail sentences set for these crimes should be much longer to begin with.

Campaigners have also warned that the scheme would draw out proceedings unnecessarily and also place victims at further risk of abuse.

The following offences have now been included in the scheme:

• Abuse of position of trust: sexual activity with a child (s.16, Sexual Offences Act 2003),
• Abuse of position of trust: causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity (s.17, Sexual Offences Act 2003)
• Abuse of position of trust: sexual activity in the presence of a child (s.18, Sexual Offences Act 2003)
• Abuse of position of trust: causing a child to watch a sexual act (s.19, Sexual Offences Act 2003)
• Inciting a child family member to engage in sexual activity (s.26, Sexual Offences Act 2003)
• Sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder impeding choice (s.30, Sexual Offences Act 2003)
• Causing or inciting a person, with a mental disorder impeding choice, to engage in sexual activity (s.31, Sexual Offences Act 2003)
• Engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a person with a mental disorder impeding choice (s.32, Sexual Offences Act 2003)
• Causing a person, with a mental disorder impeding choice, to watch a sexual act (s.33, Sexual Offences Act 2003)
• Possession of indecent photograph of a child (Criminal Justice Act 1988, s.160)
• Taking, possessing, distributing, publishing Indecent Photographs of Children (s.1 Protection of Children Act 1978)
• Harassment: putting people in fear of violence (s.4, Protection from Harassment Act 1997)
• Stalking involving fear of violence or serious alarm or distress (Protection from Harassment Act 1997, s.4A, Protection from Harassment Act 1997)
• Controlling or Coercive Behaviour in an Intimate or Family Relationship (s.76, Serious Crime Act 201,).

You can apply for a review here.