Less than half of crimes in North reported to police, says report

The North's criminal justice system needs to work harder to address the needs of victims and witnesses, with less than half of crimes currently reported to police, a report has said.

The study by the Criminal Justice Inspection (CJI) group said progress had been made and recognised that the devolution of policing and justice powers to Stormont had to be allowed to bed down.

But its review found large numbers of witnesses cited concerns over attending court, while a significant minority of victims raised issues over how they were treated by agencies such as the police.

“Undoubtedly there have been improvements in the way the system interacts with and treats victims and witnesses,” said chief inspector Michael Maguire.

“But there remains a significant number of people who feel dissatisfied given their experience.

“The inspectors heard numerous accounts from victims and witnesses who spoke of 'delays' in the system, poor communication and updating on case progression, a lack of co-ordination between the agencies and a general lack of support as people progress through the justice system.

“The treatment of victims and witnesses is a complex and difficult area for justice organisations, but the time has come for us to create more of a criminal justice ’service’ that focuses to a greater extent on all the stakeholders in a crime, addressing individual needs as well as finding someone guilty or not guilty.”

The report said that less than half (46%) of crimes are reported to the police.

It added: “Furthermore, while 71% of respondents ... were satisfied with their contact with the criminal justice system, 23% of all respondents indicated they were dissatisfied with their overall contact.

“The percentage of victims satisfied was 64% compared to 77% of witnesses. While the figure of 71% of respondents satisfied is above target and creditable, the corollary is that a sizeable number of victims and witnesses remain dissatisfied.

“There continue to be problems therefore in how the justice system treats victims and witnesses.”

The report examined data on the experiences of witnesses who attended court to give evidence.

It found:

* 47% of respondents mentioned coming into contact with the defendant (and/or their supporters);

* 41% mentioned intimidating behaviour of the defendant or his/her supporters;

* 31% mentioned not knowing enough about the court environment;

* 32% mentioned being cross-examined.

The issue of delays in cases coming to trial before the courts was also cited by those surveyed.

The report urges justice organisations to make an extra effort to be responsive, engage with and deal with the issues raised by victims and their families.

Mr Maguire said: “At a strategic level there are six recommendations, amongst which a need was identified for improved co-ordination across the justice agencies and ’victims champions’ within each justice organisation.

“The report recommended the establishment of witness care units (WCUs) like those already working in England and Wales.

“We believe these units can help achieve greater consistency and co-ordination among justice agencies while providing a single point of contact for victims and witnesses who are called to give evidence at court, helping to meet their needs in a more satisfactory way.

“In addition, there is a need for better clarity of responsibility in relation to who is accountable for meeting the needs of victims as they progress through the justice organisations. A common issue raised was the need for improved communication and updating on progress.”

At an operational level the inspection also identified a need for improved consistency of service within the police, improved communication by the Public Prosecution Service and better case management across the entire justice system to reduce the problems of avoidable delay.

“Improved services for victims and witnesses will not simply grow out of improvements in current approaches to service delivery and indeed may be counter to existing ways of doing business,” said Mr Maguire.

“Despite these concerns there were many positive developments since previous work was undertaken.”

The report is the third inspection into the experience of victims and witnesses conducted by the CJI since 2005. Of the 37 recommendations made in the initial report only two remain outstanding with the report.