(Ministry of Justice) Domestic Violence: eighteen new Special Courts announced

Victims of Domestic Violence will receive extra help and support from 18 new Specialist Domestic Violence Courts, Justice Minister Bridget Prentice announced today.

The new courts will be located in Eastern England, East Midlands, London, North East, North West, South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside. The Government has a target to have a total of 128 courts by 2011.

These courts are a fundamental part of the Government's efforts to improve the support and care provided for victims of Domestic Violence. The Specialist Domestic Violence Court programme promotes a combined approach to tackling domestic violence by the police, the Crown prosecutors, magistrates, courts and probation together with specialist support services for victims, which situates the court and the Criminal Justice System as part of a community-wide response to Domestic Violence.

Justice Minister, Bridget Prentice said:

"I am delighted to announce a further 18 Specialist Domestic Violence Courts. These courts have been a real success and are central to the package of support we offer domestic violence victims.

"It is clear by the level of interest and the standard of assessments this year that there is still an appetite locally for the development of specialist courts. This latest batch of accredited courts puts us well on the way to meeting the target of 128 Specialist Domestic Violence Courts by 2011.

"The progress made shows that the Government is absolutely committed to putting victims at the heart of the Criminal Justice System."

Key features of the courts include:

* trained and dedicated criminal justice staff with enhanced expertise in dealing with domestic violence, including magistrates specially trained in dealing with domestic violence cases
* cases clustered on a particular day to enable all agencies to focus their specialist resources
* tailored support and advice from Independent Domestic Violence Advisors

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said:

"Domestic Violence is a devastating hidden crime which the Government condemns in all its forms. We are committed to ensuring victims are at the heart of the criminal justice system by ensuring they feel confident in coming forward and reporting these cowardly crimes. We now have 122 Specialist Domestic Violence Courts providing victims across the country with the support they need to come forward and help us bring perpetrators to justice. We know this approach is working - the number of prosecutions has nearly doubled in the past four years and an average of 72.5 per cent of cases now result in a successful prosecution.

"We also recognise the need to do more to prevent these crimes from happening in the first place, which is why we recently launched the largest cross-Government consultation on ending violence against women and girls - asking the public what more we can do to prevent and challenge the attitudes that condone it. I urge both men and women to feed in their views."

The Attorney General, Baroness Scotland QC said:

"Improving the safety of women experiencing Domestic Violence and the support that they are given is a key priority for the Government. The selection of 18 further Specialist Domestic Violence Courts will ensure that more victims of domestic violence will benefit from enhanced expertise and insight into these crimes. The Crown Prosecution Service continues to improve its performance on domestic violence cases. Specialist Domestic Violence Courts are playing a key role in increasing the number of successful outcomes"