Watchdog to look at how prosecution service talks to domestic abuse victims

A review is to examine how effectively the prosecution service communicates with victims of domestic abuse after a watchdog report expressed “disappointment” at lack of progress.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland (IPS) published an inspection report in 2024 which examined how well the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) manages and prosecutes cases involving domestic abuse at sheriff summary level.

The report found that communication from, and support by, COPFS to victims of domestic abuse was inadequate.

Inspectors recommended that COPFS do more to support and engage with individual victims when preparing and prosecuting domestic abuse cases.

IPS has announced a focused, follow-up inspection which will assess whether anything has improved.

HM Chief Inspector of Prosecution in Scotland, Deborah O’Brien Demick, said: “In our most recent annual report we noted there had been a number of positive developments across COPFS in response to our inspection on how well it manages and prosecutes cases involving domestic abuse at sheriff summary level, but we have found limited evidence of immediate steps to ensure that victims of domestic abuse are timeously receiving basic information about their case – including its outcome.

“We expressed our disappointment at this lack of progress, and this was a key factor in our decision to initiate this focused, follow-up inspection.”

She added: “This is a hugely important issue. Poor communication with victims risks them becoming unsupportive of the prosecution and losing confidence in the justice system overall.”

The follow-up review will consider whether COPFS is providing basic information to victims of domestic abuse about their case after the key stages of a case.

These are listed as the first appearance of an accused in court, case management hearing or intermediate diet, trial diet, sentencing and when a case is concluded.

The review will also assess how well COPFS communicates with domestic abuse victims through the summary case management (SCM) initiative.

This aims to reduce the number of cases set for trial unnecessarily, as part of efforts to reduce the adverse impact on victims and other witnesses.

COPFS introduced enhanced victim engagement (Eve) as part of the SCM initiative.

This requires prosecutors to telephone victims in summary domestic abuse cases in the early stages of proceedings and in certain cases to offer an in-person meeting.

The SCM initiative was being run as a pilot scheme at the time of the previous IPS inspection but has since become the national model across all COPFS offices.

The follow-up review will look at the Glasgow, Dundee, Hamilton and Paisley COPFS offices where Eve has had time to become “embedded”.

The findings of the follow-up review are expected to be published by the end of the year.

COPFS has been approached for comment.