Open Justice For All

Turning lived experience into systemic change.


The UK justice system is notoriously complex and distressing to navigate — particularly for survivors of rape and sexual offences. After her own trial ended in a not-guilty verdict, campaign founder Charlotte Meijer discovered it would cost up to £20,000 to access her court transcripts. She wasn’t alone: many survivors are discouraged from attending court after giving evidence, leaving them in the dark about what happened in their own case.

Open Justice for All was born out of this shared injustice — and grew into a campaign that successfully changed the law to give survivors free access to sentencing remarks.


Challenge

For decades, hidden costs, biases, and systemic barriers have kept victims and survivors at the margins of their own legal cases.

  • Court transcripts could cost victims as much as £20,000, a barrier that was effectively silencing victims who wanted answers.

  • Public awareness of the issue was extremely low.

  • Survivors were often misguided, being discouraged from attending their own trials after giving evidence.

As a coercive control survivor myself, I saw Charlotte’s petition and immediately recognised the injustice she was feeling. Like her, I’d also been failed by the justice system and experienced significant distress during my own legal case. Those experiences opened my eyes to just how many other victims and survivors had been harmed by a system that was meant to protect them.

As comms professionals with very little energy left at the time, we said to each other, “Something good has to come from this.” If anyone had a shot at challenging the status quo, surely we did.

And so, we turned our shared sense of injustice — for ourselves and for other victims and survivors — into fuel.

Approach

We built a grassroots campaign with almost no budget —just £50 to cover a website.

  • I volunteered as Creative Director, helping Charlotte shape a clear strategy, tone, message and platform.

  • I brought in Opal Turner (copywriter) and Luke Lasenby (art director), who worked with me on platform art direction, concepting and creative execution.

  • Together we turned an online petition into a public campaign with political weight, partnering with journalists and advocates to keep pressure on the system.

There were thrree key pillars of our approach:

  1. Human stories and clear messaging to make an invisible injustice visible.

  2. Media advocacy to build public awareness and political pressure.

  3. Strategic partnerships to open doors at the policy level.

Partnerships

  • Claire Waxman OBE, Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, championed the campaign from the start.

  • Journalists at major media outlets amplified the story through BBC, ITV, and BBC Women’s Hour.

  • Pro bono ad support from InVibes and Azerion extended the campaign’s reach dramatically.

Execution

We began by launching the Open Justice for All website and social channels, creating a clear platform to explain the issue and rally support. Media coverage played a crucial role — every story carried a clear call to action, encouraging the public to pressure MPs directly.

As momentum grew, survivors, allies, journalists, and advocates helped amplify the message. In the final weeks of the campaign, pro bono media placements gave us a powerful push at a critical time. What started as a grassroots effort became mainstream news. Once public awareness broke, it was a problem the Ministry of Justice could no longer ignore.

The Pilot Trial & Final Push

Our campaign helped secure a one-year pilot granting survivors of rape and sexual offences free access to judges’ sentencing remarks — the first time the government formally acknowledged this issue.

However, the pilot received almost no publicity, leaving thousands of eligible victims unaware of their right to access it. In response, we issued a press statement highlighting the gap, warning that more than 26,000 victims risked missing out if urgent action wasn’t taken.

In the final weeks of the campaign:

  • Pro-bono advertising delivered 950,000+ impressions and a 0.40% CTR.

  • 332 letters were sent to MPs, triggering parliamentary debate and intense media focus.

  • Under mounting pressure, the government announced the scheme would be made permanent, securing free access to sentencing remarks for survivors.

  • Further updates to the Victims’ Code are now underway — signalling that this win is only the beginning.

Something good did come from it

  • Strategic partnerships opened political doors

  • Major national media coverage across BBC, ITV and Women’s Hour

  • 332 people wrote to MPs demanding change

  • CPS guidance updated so victims are no longer advised against attending trial after giving evidence

  • Law changed — survivors now have free access to sentencing remarks

  • Achieved with just £50

Credits

  • Charlotte Meijer — Founder & Survivor Advocate

  • Ant Jackson — Creative Director & Co-Lead

  • Opal Turner — Copywriter

  • Luke Lasenby — Art Director

  • Claire Waxman OBE — Victims’ Commissioner (Advocacy Partner)

Recognition

• Women in Marketing Awards — Social Impact Award Shortlist