13. Not all victims and survivors we heard from chose to bring civil claims. For those who did not initiate any litigation, the main theme was the concern that they would not be believed. AR-A1 said he was trying to avoid anything to do with Bryn Alyn, where he was abused, but he also thought that “no-one was going to believe us anyway, why go through all the trauma”.^[1] Similarly, AR-A79, who was abused at St Aidan’s, said he did not bring a civil claim because he assumed that he would not be believed.^[2]

14. Those victims and survivors who decided to bring claims all had several different reasons, or combinations of aims and objectives. Such objectives did not always align with the more fundamental purpose of a civil claim, which is to obtain financial compensation. Although financial compensation was an important objective for some, it was rarely the primary motivation.

15. AR-A78 wanted compensation but “the important part for me was not the compensation, but the fight for truth and justice itself”.^[3] AR-A2 wanted compensation to “get help” and to open up opportunities he had been deprived of by the effects of abuse.^[4] He felt that those institutions that had been responsible for his care “but who had instead destroyed my childhood and most of my social life, had a responsibility to make amends”.^[5] Financial compensation also represented accountability, or even retribution. AR-A41 said:

“I was hoping to achieve retribution for what had happened to me … They should pay. They should be made to pay for what damage they’ve done to me.”^[6]

Others expressly did not want compensation. AR-A87 said: “All I was after was justice. I was after no monetary reward.”^[7]

16. The desire for some form of justice was articulated or experienced in different ways. Some wanted the truth about the abuse to come out. Others also wanted recognition that they were abused, to be believed, or to be vindicated for being called a liar for many years.^[8] AR-A24 said:

“I was hoping that I’d get some recognition for what had happened to me, hoping that I would be vindicated for being called a liar all these years and that finally someone would listen to me … ”^[9]

17. Many victims and survivors wanted their day in court.^[10] AR-A29 said this was so he could “tell everyone about what happened to me during my childhood. I wanted it all out in the open and I wanted those responsible held accountable”.^[11] AR-A13 wanted his day in court “to talk out loud and feel … fairly confident that I was being believed, because I’d gone all these years without being believed”.^[12] For AR-A87, a day in court was also important:

“I needed to be believed. That was the most important thing, to actually have my day in court. I wanted to face my abusers and to be believed by the court that what happened to me did happen … I was looking forward to looking at my abusers and saying to them, ‘I’m not a child no more’.”^[13]

18. Several victims and survivors even wanted their abusers to be prosecuted, despite this only being possible in the criminal courts. AR-A87 said that he wanted to see the abusers brought to court and convicted, although he understood that this was not possible in the civil courts.^[14]

19. Many wanted an apology from the relevant institution, which is a theme we discuss further below.^[15] AR-A27 wanted an apology but also assurances that children in care would be protected in the future.^[16]

20. It is likely that the victims and survivors we heard from are not alone in their views. We heard evidence from a number of experienced claimant lawyers about what victims and survivors want from the civil claims process.

20.1. Paul Durkin, a solicitor who represented claimants in the St Aidan’s and St Vincent’s litigation, said that:

“the vast majority, if not all, wanted a voice, they wanted to be believed, they wanted to get their account out there … Very, very frequently, they say the money is secondary, it is not about the money, ‘What happened to me was wrong and I want justice. I want things to be put right’, and it’s a very amorphous thing they want, but compensation isn’t a primary motivator, in my experience.”^[17]

20.2. Tracey Storey, a solicitor who represented claimants in the St Leonard’s litigation, said that clients will come to her expecting more from the civil process than is always possible:

“They will expect to feel better. They will expect people to be punished. They will expect there to be accountability. And it doesn’t necessarily flow. You can use a civil process for apologies, for other forms of redress, but it doesn’t necessarily flow from it”.^[18]

20.3. Peter Garsden, another solicitor who represented claimants in the St Aidan’s and St Vincent’s litigation, said that victims and survivors are seeking truth and justice:

“Often they want to have their abuser prosecuted if they haven’t been prosecuted through the criminal courts, and we have to explain we can’t do that, that’s for the police. But often when they have failed prosecutions, they go to the civil process to try and get some justice … ”^[19]

20.4. Billhar Singh Uppal, the lead solicitor for the claimants in the Bryn Alyn litigation, was asked how many of those who went through the Bryn Alyn litigation were satisfied. He said:

“Very few. I can probably say that since 1994 I could probably count on the fingers of two hands those that have truly emerged out of this totally – I wouldn’t say unscathed, but positive, that have emerged out of this – out of the whole civil process having achieved absolutely everything that they wanted to achieve.”^[20]

When asked why clients persist with civil claims after having been warned about the process, he said:

“Often because they have no other option available to them. They have exhausted all previous options. They are not – the vast majority of claimants, issuing proceedings and getting compensation is not anywhere near their first port of call. They are corralled down an avenue that leads them to that inevitable conclusion. Along the way, some will fall down and simply not get back up, but the ones that arrive in the civil litigation arena arrive there because they have tried absolutely everything else.”^[21]