Victims of Crime (Code of Practice)

Tuesday 10th December 2013 Written Statements

[The Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims (Damian Green)]

Today the new code of practice for victims of crime (“the victims’ code”) has come into force.

This new code governs the information and services criminal justice agencies must provide to victims of criminal conduct in England and Wales. The new victims’ code is written in plain English with victims of crime as the target audience, providing information on what they can expect to receive from the criminal justice system at every step of the process. The code forms a key part of the Government’s strategy to reorient the criminal justice system in favour of the victim to help make the system more responsive and attuned to their needs.

To ensure that victims, criminal justice practitioners and victims’ organisations are fully aware of the services and support that victims of crime are entitled to, the Government have developed a range of products to help communicate the code as widely as possible. This includes a YouTube video, short leaflet guides to the code for adults and children and young people and an EasyRead guide for people with communication difficulties. All of the written materials and the full code can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-code-of-practice-for-victims-of-crime.

More information on the new victims’ code and the documents arising from the public consultation held from 29 March to 10 May can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital- communications/code-victims-crime.