No Witness No Justice

Suffolk Constabulary has transformed its way of working to help bring more offenders to justice as part of the ‘No Witness No Justice’ project.

This Government-backed initiative aims to improve victim and witness care and to deliver a more customer focused service.

It will enable more witnesses to give evidence, reduce the rate of ineffective trials through improved witness attendance at court and increase victim and witness satisfaction.

“The way the police and the Crown Prosecution Service work has been transformed in order to meet these requirements,” said Detective Chief Inspector Debbie Griffitths.

“We have Victim Liaison Officers who maintain a constant supportive link with victims, ensuring their court experience is as smooth and stress free as possible. This is in addition to strategies for the arrest and treatment of offenders.”
 
Crown Prosecution Service Witness Liaison Officers have a duty to keep victims and witnesses informed of all case developments, while Crown Prosecution Service lawyers now correspond directly with the victims/witnesses in respect of any changes in the prosecution policy.

The initiative reflects the Government’s commitment to put victims and witnesses at the heart of the drive to improve public confidence in the criminal justice system.

Child Protection

Child Protection Teams have specialist-trained officers to carry out joint investigations with Social Care Services to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect of all types on children.

In light of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, certain witnesses, essentially children, young people and adults suffering from a physical or mental disability, can give their evidence in a variety of ways - they do not always have to attend court in person and can provide their initial evidence via a video recorded interview.

Additionally, they and other witnesses can later give their evidence by video link from another room within the Court complex.

In May 2005, the number of victims and witnesses entitled to give their evidence via a video recording was extended to include victims of rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, hate crime, racial crime as well as intimidated witnesses.

For those who do attend court, various measures can be applied for by the Crown Prosecution Service to make the appearance less stressful.

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Suffolk Victim Support

Suffolk Victim Support offers advice, guidance and support to witnesses throughout the investigation and court process, even with post court contact being maintained.

For more information on Suffolk Victim Support call 0845 3899548.

The National Society for the Protection of Children (NSPCC) can play a similar role for children in liaison with the other agencies. You can contact the NSPCC’s helpline on 0808 800 5000 or email: help@nspcc.org.uk

VOICE UK is a national charity, which provides support to people with learning difficulties, and their families who have experienced crime or abuse. You can call the helpline number 0870 0133965, which is manned 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday or email: info@voiceuk.org.uk

For further information on the help and advice that’s available to victims of crime, see the Home Office’s website section on Victims of Crime  - opens in a new window.

Suffolk Witness Care Website

Here in Suffolk we have a dedicated website to help victims and witnesses of crime where you can find out court locations, information on giving evidence and contact information for victim and witness support.

To find out more visit the Suffolk Witness Care website 

Code of Practice for Victims of Crime

A code of practice designed to ensure crime victims receive the right support is in place in Suffolk .

The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime was introduced in 2005 – and sets out the standards of information, protection and support crime victims can expect from the police and other criminal justice agencies.

Key obligations for the police include:

• Keeping a victim up-to-date, at least monthly, on progress in their case and informing them when a suspect is arrested, bailed or charged.

• Ensuring details of a victim’s needs are passed on to other agencies like the Crown Prosecution Service
   
• Referring all appropriate victims to Victim Support.
  

Further details about the code can be obtained from the Home Office website - opens in a new window.

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