Frontline Matters

Listening to victims and witnesses

This guidance is intended to help LCJBs and other criminal justice agencies in developing effective ways of listening to victims and witnesses. Supported by case studies demonstrating successful approaches, this step-by-step guide describes four models that can be used, adapted and tuned to local requirements.

Victim Personal Statement (VPS)

The VPS gives victims the opportunity to tell those who work in the Criminal Justice System how the crime has affected their life, so as to inform decisions made about the case. This new revised guidance aims to ensure practitioners are equipped to offer and explain the VPS to all victims of crime. Hard copies of the following documents can be ordered from Prolog at 0870 241 4680 or by email. Foreign language versions of the leaflet are also available on demand.

Young Victims of Crime

The following page contains good practice guidance published by OCJR following pilot projects to explore the best ways to support young victims of crime. Young people are more likely to be a victim of crime than adults. However, because they are less likely to report crime, they are less able to access support. This page provides advice on how to improve services for young victims and other useful documents and information.

Bereavement pack

This pack is for Family Liaison Officers to give to bereaved families and friends following murder or manslaughter. It provides information about decisions and arrangements they may need to make, and explains how the Criminal Justice System works. It also provides contact details for support groups and organisations. Hard copies can be ordered from Prolog on 0870 241 4680 or by email.

Legal advice helpline

This leaflet describes the free legal advice about personal and social issues available for families bereaved through murder or manslaughter.

The Witness Charter page

The Witness Charter is a commitment to witnesses on how they should be treated by the Criminal Justice System. This page provides all the most up-to-date information on the programme, which rolls out nationally from April 2009. It includes the Charter itself, guidance for practitioners, promotional materials and other useful practitioner resources.

Probation victim liaison guidance

This guidance manual, for Probation Victim Liaison Officers, will also be useful to colleagues working with victims and offenders across agencies. It sets out policy on the identification and referral of victims to the Probation Service following the conviction and sentencing of an offender, and the processes during the offender's sentence which victims may be notified about and contribute to.

The Victims' Code of Practice

Since April 2006 criminal justice agencies are required by law to provide minimum standards of service to victims of crime. The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime will ensure all victims are kept up to date on the progress of their case – when someone is arrested, charged, bailed and sentenced. It also provides an enhanced service for vulnerable and intimidated victims.

The Victims' Code promotional items

This is the artwork for various promotional items used to raise awareness of the code within CJS agencies. If you have any queries about the materials please contact us.

Early findings of WAVES survey

This report sets out the first results of the WAVES (Witness and Victim Experience) survey. It relates how victims and witnesses of crime thought the Criminal Justice System treated them and the support they received.

Vulnerable and intimidated witnesses practice guidance

This guidance is intended to assist those involved in preparing and supporting vulnerable and intimidated witnesses through the criminal justice process.

Young witness support guidance

This guidance has been produced to assist Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs), in consultation with Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs), in reviewing the support services that are available locally for young witnesses who are called to give evidence in court and in developing a specialist Young Witness Support Scheme.

1. Inter-agency protocols

2. Job description for support worker

3. Examples from Humberside Young Witness Service

Memorandum of Understanding between LCJBs and local Victim Support

This document approved by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform and Victim Support can serve as a model for Local Criminal Justice Boards and local Victim Support charities seeking to agree a Memorandum of Understanding. It has developed from the work to improve the way local criminal justice agencies work with Victim Support and is based on the benefits observed when relationships are formalised. All Local Criminal Justice Boards must now agree a Memorandum of Understanding with the local Victim Support charity as part of the board's commitment to the Victim and Witness Delivery Plan (Toolkit 3 in particular).

Use of witness intermediaries

The guidance below contains detailed procedural information for criminal justice practitioners and associated guidance for the use of unregistered intermediaries (who will be used only in exceptional cases) together with some FAQs about the scheme. The use of intermediaries to assist vulnerable witnesses who need help with communication in order to achieve their best evidence is now being rolled out across England and Wales following the completion of a successful pilot stage (section 29 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999).

Witness security at court

This guidance paper, jointly produced by the Home Office and the then Department of Constitutional Affairs, is designed to offer recommendations and practical steps when considering the issue of witness security. The guidance has been agreed by the senior judiciary, Association of Chief Police Officers and Victim Support.

Young witness pack

The Young Witness Pack publications are valuable tools in preparing young witnesses for giving evidence in court. These versions, based on the NSPCC's, have been produced by the CJS to replace them. Download the bilingual (English-Welsh) version of each item below, or order hard copies for free from Prolog at 0870 241 4680 or by emailing them. Please note these are to be read through with young witnesses, they are not to be ordered for mail-out or promotional purposes.