Prosecuting Domestic Abuse in Neoliberal Times by Antonia Porter

Author:Antonia Porter
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030613693
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

(ii) ‘Working Practice’ in 2008–2009: Summons and Convict

In 2005, the CPS re-launched its Policy for Prosecuting Cases of Domestic Violence,27 together with its Good Practice Guidance.28 The Guidance outlined how the service was going to be taking ‘a more sophisticated approach to prosecuting hate crimes such as domestic violence’.29 The new strategy was based on insights gained from a two-year project in which Specialist Domestic Violence Courts in Croydon and Caerphilly were monitored for ‘improvements’. ‘Improvements’ here referred to outcomes which demonstrated that the offender was being brought to justice; increased convictions, reductions in discontinuances, reductions in victim retraction and the increased reporting and prosecutions of cases.30 The financial implications of successful prosecutions (and the belief that convictions reduce recidivism) were forefronted. The Good Practice Guidance also promoted gathering evidence and building the case absent the victim, ensuring appropriate bail conditions and information exchange between professional agencies. Witness summonses were to be considered but only after full consideration of the ‘safety issues’. The guidance suggested that a successful conviction is a successful outcome for the victim, save only where her safety would have been compromised by pursuing the case.

The following account of the 2005–2008 training that ran parallel to the publication of the CPS policy and guidance has been compiled from my recollection, having undertaken the training myself, together with information contained in the CPS training evaluation report.31 The training stressed that violence between intimate partners was a crime that must be afforded high priority by criminal justice agents. It imparted practical and ‘consistent’32 ways to take a proactive approach. Prosecutors were educated about the dynamics of abusive relationships and about how perpetrators often manipulated the system to maintain control over their partner and to effect their preferred outcome. The objective of the training was to shift any permissive attitudes amongst prosecutors. In practical terms, prosecutors were invited to be robust with defence requests to ‘crime down’ (reduce the level of charge) or to vary bail conditions. They were encouraged to liaise with Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) or the Officer in the Case (OIC) before agreeing to any alterations. Trainers used case studies to illustrate and model the new approach and, in practical terms, prosecutors were encouraged to apply to admit bad character evidence for like previous convictions, to apply for special measures to assist witnesses giving testimony, to use res gestae evidence where possible, to make use of victim personal statements at sentencing and to apply for witness summonses where appropriate. Attaining convictions where possible and delivering ‘high quality service to victims’33 was paramount.

The impact of the training programme and new policy was clear; domestic abuse conviction rates rose from 55% in 2005 to 70.7% in 2008; discontinuance rates fell from 37 to 22.9%; and the use of bind-overs fell from 18.2 to 5.3% in the same period.34 The statistics illustrate the extent of the re-education in the service, from ‘automatic drop ’ to ‘tenacious pursuit’.35

The CPS conducted its own qualitative research with focus groups in 200836 to examine the cultural impact of the new approach.

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