Dame Vera Baird welcomes positive change to improve domestic violence conviction rates
18th December 2018
Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Dame Vera Baird QC, has welcomed national measures to boost conviction rates in domestic violence and has praised local volunteers who helped her compile a court observer’s report which is influencing positive change for the victim experience.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has today (Tuesday, 18 December) revealed it will extend the roll-out of techniques developed in pilot projects which have improved conviction rates by 10 per cent over the past two years.
The announcement follows recommendations made in a report by Dame Vera earlier this year, which highlighted the absence of Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) and inadequate training for staff as key problems that undermine the effectiveness of specialist domestic violence courts.
The report entitled ‘Specialist Domestic Violence Courts – How special are they?’ was compiled by volunteer court observers – mainly from the North of England Soroptimists and trained by the Crown Prosecution Service and the Courts Service who observed 223 cases between July and November 2017.
The CPS’s decision to extend effective domestic violence prosecution schemes, has been announced ahead of Christmas and the New Year which are traditionally busy periods for domestic violence.
In Northumbria, for example, there were 123 reports of domestic abuse on Boxing Day in 2016/17 (a Monday); this is 45 per cent more than a typical Monday from the same year.
Dame Vera, who has long been championing for change to the domestic violence court system said: “Domestic abuse complainants deserve a justice system that understands their needs and my report, based on findings from local volunteers, found that there are crucial gaps so I am pleased this work is making a positive impact and we are seeing the CPS taking some much needed and very welcome steps in the right direction.
“Victims expose themselves to enhanced risk when they report to police and agree to testify and full appreciation of that should feed into every element of the justice system.”
ENDS
Links to information:
‘Specialist Domestic Violence Courts – How special are they?’
CPS to extend effective domestic violence prosecution scheme
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