The proposal to extend the deadline for reporting sexual assaults and require an explicit yes sounds good on paper, but it runs into the reality of a slow and overwhelmed justice system. Lengthening the timeframes without investing in specialized courts, police training, or victim support merely shifts the problem. It is an empty gesture if those who report continue to face revictimization and processes that last for years.
Courts without staff or technology to manage the increase in reports 🏛️
Current judicial technology is insufficient. Outdated case management systems, lack of interoperability between police and judicial databases, and bureaucracy that slows down every step. If deadlines are extended without modernizing the courts, the collapse will be greater. The technical solution involves implementing unified digital platforms, artificial intelligence to prioritize urgent cases, and ongoing gender perspective training for judges and prosecutors. Without that, any legal change is just a dead letter.
The explicit yes is useless if the court closes at three ⏰
So now victims will have more years to report, but the same courts with office hours and a single clerk to attend to them. Perhaps the next step will be to extend the deadlines so they expire before the system reacts. Because lengthening the calendar without reinforcing resources is like putting an open 24 hours sign on a store that closes when the owner goes to sleep. The intention is good, but the judicial reality remains the same as always.