Review into the Needs of Families Bereaved by Homicide by Louise Casey, July 2011

Theme / Recommendation / Action taken
1.Victims’ Law / A ‘victim’s law’, which outlines families’ rights with regard to the criminal justice process and their right to help and support, is needed to ensure they are given adequate recognition and protection.
A victim’s law should make clear that:
a)  The coroner will release the body back to the family for burial within 28 days unless exceptional circumstances apply.
b)  The police will keep families updated at each stage of the investigation.
c)  A police protocol is adopted for reviewing cases which remain ‘unsolved’ that sets out clearly how and when families are to be kept consulted and updated.
d)  Families have the right to information from the CPS and to meet with the CPS lawyer at key stages of the process, including on conviction, or acquittal, and on appeal.
e)  There is a new Criminal Procedure Practice Direction about the needs and treatment of bereaved families in court.
f)  That the family are provided with an integrated package of help and support following the death and up until any trial and beyond. This should include:
o  A dedicated homicide caseworker providing support and advice on practical problems arising from the homicide;
o  Access to specialist help on issues like housing and child care proceedings arising as a consequence of the homicide;
o  Access to trauma and bereavement counselling from approved providers to help them through traumatic bereavement; and
o  Access to a national network of peer support groups who can provide befriending and support for families. / The Government has committed to put key entitlements of the Victims’ Code into primary legislation and to introduce this in the next Parliament.
The Government has implemented most of the recommendations that Louise Casey wanted such a law to address.
2.Releasing the body for burial / The new Ministerial Board given oversight of non judicial coroner matters should stop extended delays in releasing a body for burial to enable families to bury their loved ones within 28 days. / The coroner reforms detailed in the Coroner and Justice Act 2009 were implemented in July 2013 and aim to improve services for bereaved people and provide greater consistency.
In February 2014 ‘The Guide to Coroner Services’ was published explaining the standards of service that can be expected during a coroner's investigation.
3.Treatment of families in court / A Practice Direction focused on the needs of families bereaved by homicide and culpable road deaths should be introduced and should highlight the importance of good treatment and awareness of their needs and interest in proceedings. / The main elements of the recommendation were included in the revised Criminal Practice Directions in 2013:
4.Sentencing remarks in writing / Bereaved families should be provided with written copies of the judge’s sentencing remarks so that they have access to accurate information and are not reliant on other parts of the criminal justice system to inform them. / The Ministry of Justice provides families of homicide victims with a copy of the judge’s sentencing remarks in any case of murder, manslaughter or offences of causing death on the road.
5.Trial transcripts / Bereaved families should be informed by the court that they are entitled to request transcripts of the trial, and a request for a transcript should be looked on favourably by the judge. The court should look at how such transcripts are provided at minimal cost to a family. / HMCTS guidance for court staff is that they must askthe Homicide Service Caseworker/Witness Service/Victim Support to assist, support and advise bereaved families who believe that having the opportunity to re-live part of a trial would assist them with closure.
Bereaved families are entitled to transcripts of the trial. In terms of costsHMCTSwill look at each case on its merits, and will consider providing transcripts of other key parts of the trial in addition.
6.Adjourning cases / If a guilty plea is entered at a pre-trial hearing unexpectedly when the family are not at court, the CPS should request an adjournment, and judges respond sympathetically to such requests, so that bereaved families have the opportunity to attend for the rest of the proceedings. / As a matter of principle CPS prosecutors are expected to be sensitive to the needs of bereaved families when progressing cases in court.
Judges are usually sympathetic to a family’s desire to be present at sentencing although the decision to grant an adjournment is a matter for judicial discretion.
7.Keeping families updated: the CPS / The CPS should introduce a new guarantee to provide more information at different stages of the process to families bereaved by homicide and culpable road deaths. / The revised CPS policy entitled ‘Homicide Cases – Guidance on CPS to bereaved families’ was published in December 2011 and sets out the enhanced service and minimum standards the CPS offers to bereaved families in homicide cases.
The CPS service to bereaved families was incorporated into the revised Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (Victims’ Code) published in October 2013.
8.Victim Personal Statement / The Victim Personal Statement (VPS) is the family’s only opportunity to have a voice in proceedings and to put a human face to the victim in court. Yet because the VPS is treated as part of the evidence, it is given to thedefendant along with other papers. Families have expressed concern, fear and anger over situations where there is an acquittal and the accused person has seen their heartfelt feelings as expressed in the VPS when it may not have been used by the court. The VPS should only be entered into evidence if there is a conviction.
Families ought to be able to choose how and by whom the VPS is delivered – by a family member, a family supporter, the prosecutor – or not read out loud at all.
Changes to Victim Personal Statements should be introduced as a part of a new practice direction for bereaved families. / The Victims’ Code entitles the victim to make a VPS, say whether or not they would like to have their VPS read aloud or played, whether they would like to read their VPS aloud themselves or to have it read aloud for them (or not).
We have also committed to put the VPS into the Victims’ Law, which we will introduce in the next Parliament.
9.Appeals / Action should be taken to ensure that the defence solicitor informs CPS Central Appeals Unit of the leave application when it goes to the appeal court so they can inform the family as quickly as possible, advising them of the implications. / The Victims’ Code sets out the entitlement of a bereaved family to be notified when an Appeal is lodged and also sets out the liaison between the Criminal Appeal Office, the CPS, Witness Care Units and the police where there is an Appeal.
10.Where cases are unsolved / ACPO should draw up a national protocol about the review of cases which remain unresolved; how regularly they are reviewed, and communication and consultation with the families concerned, which is adopted by all police forces. / The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are currently piloting a set of National Minimum Standards (NMS) in homicide cases where there is a full acquittal. The NMS pilot was extended to two other force areas in November 2014, but to date neither area has identified any qualifying cases.
In 2013 the Homicide Working Group published a review document entitled ‘Interim Professional Practice – Major Crime reviews’. Best practice will be adopted by forces nationwide.
11.Victim Contact Scheme (VCS) / The VCS should be reviewed by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP), working closely with the Victims’ Commissioner. / Following reviews of the VCS by the Victims’ Commissioner and HMIP, the Government accepted, fully or partially, the vast majority of the recommendations made.
12.Understanding the criminal justice process / The Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses will run an advocacy programme to increase the knowledge and advocacy skills of national homicide caseworkers, peer support groups and others supporting bereaved families. / Training sessions in the workings of the CJS were organised for peer support groups. Victim Support provides appropriate training to its caseworkers and volunteers to enable them to represent bereaved families as necessary.
13.Homicide Reviews / ‘Homicide Reviews’ have recently been introduced by the Home Office whose objective is that relevant services, such as local authorities and the police, learn lessons when a person has been killed as a result of domestic violence. Consideration should be given to whether this model of reviews could be extended to a broader range of homicide cases where it would be beneficial to families who would otherwise remain in the dark on what happened to their loved ones, and that services might learn lessons in order to help reduce risk. / This recommendation has been implemented with respect to Serious Case Reviews by the Department for Education.
Where circumstances dictate, a Serious Case Review may take place alongside other forms of review or investigation, such as a Domestic Homicide Review or an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
14.Services / A new offer of services should be established for bereaved families. It should encompass:
·  A dedicated casework service to help with practical problems and support families in the early weeks and months following bereavement. Where aspects of a case include complex and specialist areas of law, there should be arrangements in place for families to access additional assistance.
·  Trauma and bereavement counselling as necessary.
·  An offer of peer support through a national network of peer support/self help.
·  Age-appropriate services for children. / This recommendation has been implemented.
The national Homicide Service has dedicated caseworkers who provide help to families bereaved since 2010 through a range of practical and advisory issues. The Homicide Service can help by commissioning specialist trauma and/or bereavement counselling services for adults and children. MoJ separately provides funding to specialist organisations to help those bereaved before 2010.
From 1 October 2014 the newly commissioned Homicide Service has incorporated peer support as part of its national provision. MoJ separately provides funding to groups to provide peer support to those bereaved before 2010 and is working with them to ensure that there is no loss of necessary support.
15.Issues affecting particular groups of bereaved families:
·  Families bereaved prior to April 2010
·  Homicide Abroad
·  Culpable road death / Peer support groups should be provided with training on assessments and referral arrangements ahead of being granted direct referral routes to such services for families bereaved prior to April 2010.
In common with families bereaved in England and Wales, families bereaved through a homicide abroad should have guaranteed access to help and support from a peer support organisation that specialises in families bereaved through homicide abroad.
As new funds become available, the Government should make it a high priority for those bereaved by culpable road death to receive a service similar to the new offer outlined above for those bereaved through homicide. / Training was arranged. Ministers have confirmed that funding to provide peer support for those bereaved prior to 2010 will continue until March 2017, at which point the grant arrangements supporting all families bereaved by homicide will be due for re-commissioning.
Since 2010 the MoJ and Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) have provided Victim Support with a £100k grant to enable them to provide support for those bereaved by homicide abroad (via Missing Abroad). Funding is also provided by the FCO to Missing Abroad to provide practical support. The national Homicide Service incorporates specialist support for those bereaved abroad as well as peer support.
The MoJ provides the charity ‘Brake’ with funding (extended until 31st March 2016) to provide specialist support through an information pack and national telephone helpline for those bereaved by culpable road death.The MoJ is currently examining what support PCCs will be offering to victims of road traffic crime, including those bereaved by culpable road death, and therefore what support we will fund in the future.

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