MoJ announces NDA reform to prevent silencing of crime victims
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced draft amendments to section 17 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (VPA 2024) to prevent the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that conceal criminal conduct. The current VPA 2024, s 17 makes NDAs void to the extent that they preclude a victim from disclosing information to specified categories of recipient. The proposed new VPA 2024, s 17 will allow victims of criminal conduct, or those who reasonably believe they are victims, to disclose information to anyone, including family, friends, employers and journalists, for any purpose. NDAs will be void insofar as they attempt to prevent such disclosures relating to criminal conduct or the response of an employer or other party to that conduct. The amendment will also empower the Secretary of State to make regulations setting criteria for ‘excepted agreements’ in limited, legitimate circumstances, and will include express exemptions for NDAs entered into by His Majesty in a private capacity, the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service and the Government Communications Headquarters. Supported by Victims Minister, Alex Davies-Jones MP, and campaigners such as Zelda Perkins of Can’t Buy My Silence UK, the reform forms part of the government’s Plan for Change to restore confidence in the justice system, strengthen victims’ rights, and help halve violence against women and girls.