Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

From June 2013, there has been a procedure in place allowing victims to ask the CPS to review any decision not to take a case forward, either by not charging a person or by continuing procedures. In most cases, this involved a process of reviewing the initial decision by a more senior officer within the CPS.

An enhanced procedure is available for certain classes of victim:

• Victims of the most serious crime
• Persistently targeted victims
• Vulnerable or intimidated victims

Their rights are now set out in a revised version of the Victims’ Code that was published in December 2013.

A detailed summary of the procedure is at http://www.cps.gov.uk/victims_witnesses/victims_right_to_review/, which also has a link to the full Victims’ Code.