The Department of Health, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office have worked together to produce this practice guidance. The guidance is issued as part of the Home Office led Action for Justice programme, which said that good practice guidance on the provision of therapy prior to trial for vulnerable or intimidated adult witnesses would be issued.
The government is committed to improving the protection during the criminal justice process for vulnerable or intimidated witnesses, including children. This document is issued as part of ‘Action for Justice’, the implementation programme for the ‘Speaking Up for Justice’ report. Following the report, the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 set out a range of special measures to assist vulnerable or intimidated witnesses, including children to give their best evidence in criminal proceedings.
This is the report of a systematic review that was undertaken to investigate how adults with mental health problems experience civil, family and criminal justice. The findings are presented and discussed under the following headings: associations and characteristics of adults with mental health problems; services and agencies accessed by adults with mental health problems and their effectiveness; experiences, barriers and potential barriers to accessing justice for adults with mental health problems.
The Government is committed to improving the treatment of victims of crime. This document is issued as part of Action for Justice, the implementation programme for Speaking up for Justice, the report of the interdepartmental review of vulnerable or intimidated witnesses. That report made a series of recommendations covering the investigation through to the trial and beyond, with the aim of assisting vulnerable or intimidated witnesses to give their best evidence.
This legislation sets out the purpose, functions and members of key bodies within the criminal justice service such as the National Criminal Investigation Services; the National Crime Squad and the Police Information Technology Organisation. The Act also sets out the appointment of Information Commissioners in respect of 'property', certification of criminal records and identity checking such as the disclosure process.