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<p>The Victims’ Code sets out the services victims are entitled to receive in England
and Wales from criminal justice agencies, including the police, the Crown Prosecution
Service, Courts, and Probation Services. This includes being provided with information
by the police’s Witness Care Unit about the progress of their case, including the
date and time of any hearings and the outcomes. If there is a conviction, the Witness
Care Unit will tell victims about the sentence. Any questions a victim has about the
sentence will be passed to the Crown Prosecution Service. Bereaved families of victims
of homicide can also meet with the crown prosecutor.</p><p> </p><p>Victims who are
eligible to join the Victim Contact Scheme, which are victims in cases where the offender
receives a sentence of 12 months or more for a for a specified violent or sexual offence,
will be given information about the prisoner by His Majesty’s Prisons and Probation
Service’s Victim Liaison Officers, such as whether they are eligible to move to open
conditions and when they are going to be released.</p><p> </p><p>More widely, the
Victims and Prisoners Bill has measures to improve how the services under the Victims’
Code are delivered, by improving data collection and sharing, strengthening local
and national oversight of performance, and increasing the transparency of how the
criminal justice system delivers for victims. We will publicly consult on the draft
for the new Victims' Code after the Bill has completed its passage through Parliament.
As part of that consultation, we are open to whether further updates may be useful,
including to how communication with victims might be improved.</p>
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