Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

As part of its response to the problem of domestic violence, the Government has established a number of specialist courts where staff have been specially training to deal with DV cases. In March 2010, it was announced that the total of these courts had been increased to 141.

Key features of the courts include:

• trained and dedicated criminal justice staff with enhanced expertise in dealing with domestic violence, including magistrates specially trained in dealing with domestic violence cases
• tailored support and advice from independent domestic violence advisers
• multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARAC) to provide protection for those most at risk of harm.

New provisions to designed to protect the victims of domestic violence are included in the Crime and Security Act 2010, which was passed in April 2010 just before Parliament rose for the General Election campaign.