The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) have pledged to work more closely together to build strong cases to ensure justice for victims-survivors of domestic abuse.
The Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan is expected to lead to a better understanding of their needs by focusing on patterns of behaviour to identify offenders who present the greatest threat.
The plan has emerged from insights by operational police and prosecutors, police and crime commissioners and inspectorates, government departments, academic studies, victim groups as well as testing new ways of working.
“Getting cases through the system quicker is vital to breaking the cycle of abuse and safeguarding victims, and whilst there may be complex cases that take longer, we have seen that when we work together to build robust cases, a charge is authorised within one day,” said the CPS’s director of strategy and policy Baljit Ubhey, who added tackling domestic abuse needs a system-wide approach.
The NPCC’s domestic abuse lead Louisa Rolfe stated: “As justice agencies, it is essential we work together to better safeguard victims and hold offenders to account.”
Elements of the plan include:
- Piloting case conversations between police and prosecutors to target reasonable lines of inquiry, address evidential concerns and develop early prosecution strategies;
- Testing the impact of early decision-making on charging;
- Considering protective orders from the outset;
- Communicating early in high-harm, high-risk cases;
- Agreeing a definition of high-risk, high-harm repeat offending;
- Pursue those who breach bail conditions and protective orders, and considering whether that behaviour amounts to a new offence; and
- Supporting victims by developing a pilot scheme to offer an enhanced service to high-risk and vulnerable survivors.
The CPS and NPCC caution they understand not all victims want or will benefit from a criminal justice outcome.
