Response to review into Crown Prosecution Service handling of domestic abuse cases (March 2023)

We welcome the decision from the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate to review the service from the CPS to victims of domestic abuse, an important step in understanding the current landscape and improving practice. The report’s findings are concerning, outlining particular challenges around the provision of special measures to victims; effective use of risk assessments to ensure victims are kept safe; and instances of poor partnership working between the police and CPS resulting in weakened cases. Despite recommendations on these specific issues in the Domestic Abuse Best Practice Framework and the Domestic Abuse Act, it is clear there is a long way to go.

Standing Together has coordinated Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts (SDACs) for over two decades, a model which brings criminal justice agencies together in coordinated frameworks to share information and prioritise victim safety. In light of these findings, we urge the CPS to make use of the SDAC model when working to improve practice, and would welcome the opportunity to work alongside them to do so. The SDAC model has been shown to reduce attrition rates and increase conviction rates; improve victim experience and understanding of the criminal justice process; improve court efficiency; and ultimately deliver swifter justice. Standing Together very much hopes to see SDACs rolled out more widely to tackle some of the problems this report identifies, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the CPS in holding perpetrators to account.