Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to introduce a victims' right to review decisions taken by the police not to prosecute in accordance with Article 11 of Directive 2012/29/EU.
The Ministry of Justice has carried out a detailed analysis of the EU Victims’ Directive and we are on track to transpose the EU Victims’ Directive by November. Our main mechanism for describing victims’ rights is the Victims’ Code – a statutory code of practice.
A consultation on the proposed revision of the Code was launched by the MoJ on 16th July 2015 and will run until 16 August 2015. The consultation is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/revising-the-victims-code
Subject to consultation, the revised Victims’ Code will clarify that when the police or CPS make a decision not to prosecute, the victim is entitled to receive reasons why a decision was made not to prosecute, how they can access further information about the decision and how they can access a review of that decision in accordance with the respective victim right to review scheme.