Police and prosecutors launch joint plan to transform delivery of justice for domestic abuse victims

Police and prosecutors are transforming their handling of domestic abuse cases through shared innovation and closer joint working.

The Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan (DA JJP) commits the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to work together more cohesively at an earlier stage to build strong cases from the outset to get justice for victims and provide them with a consistent service of support.

Insights gathered from operational police and prosecutors, Commissioners and Inspectorates, government departments, academic studies, victim groups and survivors have led to the actions laid out in this plan which work to strengthen the current system and test new ways of working to better address domestic abuse offending.

The DA JJP will drive a better understanding of the needs of victims focussing on patterns of behaviour so we can identify offenders who present the greatest threat.

Baljit Ubhey, CPS director of strategy and policy, said: “The Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan is about getting it right first time by bringing the expertise from both police and prosecutors to better recognise behaviour driven offending, and progress cases through the system to get justice for victims.

“It is about creating cultural change, working towards our shared goal of getting the right outcome for victims through a stronger, more coordinated approach.

“We have seen through our work to improve rape investigations and prosecutions that when we come together quicker to identify issues and reasonable lines of inquiry, we can build cases which result in guilty pleas or convictions at trial.

“Getting cases through the system quicker is vital to breaking the cycle of abuse and safeguard 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.

“We know domestic abuse needs a system-wide approach; this joint commitment is a step in the right direction to improving victims’ experiences and better protecting them and their families while holding offenders to account.”

Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Domestic Abuse, said: “Domestic abuse is a devastating crime that can have a life-long impact on victims, and this is often exacerbated by their journey through the criminal justice system.

“Our people work incredibly hard every day to bring offenders of this despicable crime to justice, but we know there is still more work to do, and we are committed to achieving better, more victim-focussed outcomes for them, which is why we are working with the CPS on this plan.

“As justice agencies, it is essential we work together to better safeguard victims and hold offenders to account.

“We want women and girls to feel safe and confident reporting any instances of abuse to the authorities. One of the ways we can reassure, and support victims is by ensuring that when they do come forward, swift action is taken to prevent any further harm.”

Key elements of the DA JJP include:

• Piloting the introduction of “case conversations”, bringing police and prosecutors together earlier so we target reasonable lines of enquiry, address evidential concerns and develop early prosecution strategies
• Testing the impact of more timely decision-making on charging. This pilot will establish more ambitious timeframes with proportionate action plans, on the day problem solving to set scope on achievable, reasonable lines of enquiries
• Communicating at an early stage in high-harm, high-risk domestic abuse cases, considering protective orders from the outset and robustly pursuing those who breach bail conditions and protective orders, considering whether the behaviour amounts to a new offence
• Developing a shared definition of high-risk, high-harm repeat offending and a cross-agency flagging system to identify offenders who present the greatest threat
• Supporting victims by working together to develop a pilot that offers an enhanced service to high-risk and vulnerable victims, promoting best practice in victim safeguarding, and providing clear and consistent information to victims while making early assessments for protective orders and special measures applications
• A local delivery toolkit to support delivery and provide direction to forces and Areas on how to implement the DA JJP. It emphasises the importance of working with local partners, particularly the specialist services and by-and-for organisations who provide invaluable support to victims
• Enhancing governance and accountability with a new Domestic Abuse Implementation Board that will encourage cooperation and address cross-cutting issues. Locally, governance products will support police and CPS to work together, along with their local partners, to raise standards and to improve DA performance

All of this work is ultimately to improve victim experience, but also help to give victims the confidence to come forward so more domestic abuse cases are prosecuted where appropriate, while understanding not all victims want or will benefit from a criminal justice outcome.

Swift and effective investigations and prosecutions are one of the ways we are contributing towards the government’s pledge to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade.