Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help ensure that victims of domestic abuse and specifically children are supported and rehabilitated through court processes.

The Government is committed to ensuring that victims of domestic abuse, including children, are properly supported through court processes in England and Wales.

We are reforming court procedures in private family law proceedings relating to children to make them safer and more child-centred, including through the expansion of the Pathfinder model. This innovative court model uses a less adversarial approach for private law children proceedings and is now operating in 10 court areas including all of Wales. The model sees the courts work closely with local domestic abuse agencies, to ensure that specialist support and access to domestic abuse risk assessments are in place. We are committed to expanding the model so that more people can benefit from this approach.

We are also committed to improving the criminal court response to domestic abuse and are considering additional measures to achieve better outcomes for victims. As recommended by the Independent Sentencing Review, this includes considering whether to expand the use of Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts.

Victims of domestic abuse involved in family court proceedings, as well as in civil or criminal court proceedings, may have protections such as special measures, including giving evidence via a video link or from behind a screen. Alongside this, abusers may be prohibited from directly cross-examining their victims, in family and civil proceedings. In these cases, the court may appoint a qualified legal representative instead. In the criminal courts there are longstanding statutory prohibitions against an unrepresented defended cross-examining a complainant or witness. Practice Directions in the criminal and family courts also permit Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs) to accompany parties in proceedings, which provides further support to victims.