Pressure Tells On Justice System?
The pressure beginning to tell on the justice system? I welcome this, but it could be just window dressing as lawyers are in the loop once again. A concern for me is that these changes do not apply to decisions not to charge by the police, which is how my own case has been blocked -- actually Scotland Yard refuse to even investigate or acknowledge documents sent recorded delivery.
An interesting aspect here are the words of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC: "Refusing to admit mistakes can seriously undermine public trust in the criminal justice system." It was that refusal to admit judicial & Ministry of Justice mistakes that resulted in my daughter being traded like a commodity to pay for them. That is child abduction; that is criminal!
I wrote to Starmer complaining the police were not investigating & provided evidence of that, my case & of the cover-up. His office's response, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), was to tell me they didn't investigate allegations of crime from the public & that I needed to go to the police! -- Hmmm... constitutionally the CPS are supposed to be independent. Anyhow, at least that was better than my initial contact with his boss, the Attorney General Baroness Scotland. Apparently those documents went missing, an all too common occurrence. Here are the more relevant extracts from the article (all emphasis added):
An interesting aspect here are the words of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC: "Refusing to admit mistakes can seriously undermine public trust in the criminal justice system." It was that refusal to admit judicial & Ministry of Justice mistakes that resulted in my daughter being traded like a commodity to pay for them. That is child abduction; that is criminal!
I wrote to Starmer complaining the police were not investigating & provided evidence of that, my case & of the cover-up. His office's response, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), was to tell me they didn't investigate allegations of crime from the public & that I needed to go to the police! -- Hmmm... constitutionally the CPS are supposed to be independent. Anyhow, at least that was better than my initial contact with his boss, the Attorney General Baroness Scotland. Apparently those documents went missing, an all too common occurrence. Here are the more relevant extracts from the article (all emphasis added):
Victims of crime in England and Wales are being given the right to challenge decisions to stop prosecutions or not charge suspects.
The victims' right to review covers any decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to pursue a case.
Director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer said victims had been treated as "bystanders" in the past. Mr Starmer said the move could affect about 70,000 cases a year, but would not cover those dropped by the police.
The new policy, which is in effect now, follows a 2011 Court of Appeal ruling which stated that "as a decision not to prosecute is in reality a final decision for a victim, there must be a right to seek review of such a decision". [BUT THE SAME CAN BE SAID IF POLICE REFUSE TO INVESTIGATE!]
Announcing the proposals, Mr Starmer said: "The criminal justice system historically treated victims as bystanders and accordingly gave them little say in their cases."
He said this approach was supposed to inspire confidence in decisions that, once made, were final.
"But in reality it had the opposite effect," he said. "Refusing to admit mistakes can seriously undermine public trust in the criminal justice system."
Charity Victim Support welcomed the move, saying it would strengthen victims' rights and "help to reposition victims back at the heart of our justice system".
Chief executive Javed Khan added: "Too often victims tell us that they don't have much of a voice in our justice system."
Helen Grant, Minister for Victims and the Courts, said: "If a victim has the strength to come forward, it is right that we give them every possible chance to get the justice they so deserve."
Published on June 05, 2013 03:12
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Tags:
child-abduction, criminal-justice
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