Joint inspection report on the experience of young victims and witnesses in the criminal justice system
Summary
In 2009 Her Majesty’s Chief Inspectors of the Crown Prosecution Service, Constabulary and Court Administration published a report into the experiences of victims and witnesses in the criminal justice system (CJS) (PDF document). While that report identified and highlighted good practice, it also set out 19 recommendations and identified 25 further aspects for improvement, designed at improving the service that victims and witnesses receive.
It is important that we, as public service inspectorates, conduct follow-up inspections to establish how our recommendations have been addressed and what progress has been made. It is equally important that in doing so we should not merely replicate previous inspections, but also focus our limited resources on the most pressing issues within the CJS. For that reason this inspection has not only re-visited the recommendations arising from our 2009 report but, also focused particularly on the experience of young victims and witnesses, who are amongst the most vulnerable of those who come into contact with the CJS.