The Attorney General and Solicitor General meet the director of Public Prosecutions regularly to discuss CPS priority areas which includes ensuring that the CPS continues to protect vulnerable victims of crime. However, the Law Officers do not intervene on individual cases; judges have discretion to make decisions based on the evidence before them.<\/p>
Section 12 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 enables courts to make restraining orders at the conclusion of a case. These are civil orders; however, breach of an order is a criminal offence. The Crown Prosecution Service takes domestic abuse seriously and in 2017 in England and Wales 19,216 restraining orders were issued on conviction and 1,932 were issued on acquittal. The Government sees the response to domestic abuse as a top priority and is committed to securing justice for all victims.<\/p>
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<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4106", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South Swindon"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Robert Buckland"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-27T16:10:18.567Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "88"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Domestic Abuse: Restraining Orders"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Attorney General, whether he has had any discussions with the CPS on introducing tighter restrictions on the circumstances in which a restraining order may be varied to prevent the situation whereby a perpetrator of domestic abuse is granted a variation that permits them to work within a one mile radius from their victim.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3985", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Robert Halfon"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Harlow"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Robert Halfon"} ], "uin" : "191386"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1007134", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Attorney General"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1007134/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
There are a number of factors that have contributed to the recent falls in the volume of suspects charged, prosecuted and convicted of rape. The 2017-18 Violence Against Women and Girls report highlighted a 9.1% fall in referrals of rape flagged cases from the police to the CPS and work is being undertaken to understand the reasons behind this trend. Prosecutors are increasingly using the process of Early Investigative Advice to work with the police early to see what can be done to strengthen the prosecution when it is needed.<\/p>
Rape investigations are becoming increasingly complex due to a number of factors, including the growth in relevant digital communications evidence. To address the increasing complexity of cases the CPS have introduced new guidance to help police and prosecutors with reasonable lines of inquiry and communications evidence. There has also been a significant recruitment exercise, which was completed to ensure that RASSO units were equipped to meet the substantial increase in the volume of case referrals from the police. Between July 2015 and October 2018, the number of specialist prosecutors in RASSO units rose by 52% from 138 to 210, with overall staffing in these units increasing by more than a third.<\/p>
There has been no change of approach or guidance to CPS prosecutors in their commitment towards the prosecution of rape offences. The CPS has undertaken extensive work over the last decade to ensure that specialist prosecutors are fully equipped to deal with the particular complexities of rape and serious sexual offences and that the Code for Crown Prosecutors is properly applied. This includes understanding victim vulnerabilities and the impact of rape, as well as consent, myths and stereotypes, and the particular difficulties of cases involving vulnerable witnesses and young people. In 2018-19 the CPS plans to embark upon a project to better understand the evolving nature of sexual behaviours and encounters amongst young people as there are particular challenges in cases involving young adults.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4106", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South Swindon"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Robert Buckland"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-19T14:04:02.757Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "88"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Rape: Criminal Proceedings"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the change in the CPS charging, prosecution and conviction rates related to cases of rape since 2016-17.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4125", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Catherine McKinnell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newcastle upon Tyne North"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Catherine McKinnell"} ], "uin" : "191416"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }