Paragraph 58 Information, referral to victim support services and needs assessmentsI1

United Kingdom

You are entitled to receive^f1 the following:

(1)

a written acknowledgement that you have reported a crime including the basic details of the offence. The written acknowledgement could be in the form of a letter, an electronic notification such as an email or text, or it could be written by hand. You may request not to receive such acknowledgement. Where the Service Police or Commanding Officer consider there may be a risk of harm to you from sending the written acknowledgement (for example in domestic violence cases) they may agree with you not to send one;

(2)

a clear explanation of what to expect from the Service Justice System when you report a crime;

(3)

a timely assessment of your needs to help work out whether you want support, and, if so, what help or support you may need. This will help to identify whether you are in one of the three categories of victim who may need enhanced support^f2, and to determine whether and to what extent you may benefit from Special Investigations Measures and Special Measures;

(4)

written information (in accordance with paragraphs 13 and 14 of the Introduction) on what to expect from the Service Justice System such as the victim and witness information leaflets without unnecessary delay from your first contact with the with the Service Police or Commanding officer exercising powers of investigation;

(5)

to be notified, without unnecessary delay, of your entitlement to receive the following information:

(a)

any decision not to proceed with or to end an investigation or not to prosecute a suspect, including a brief summary or reasons for the decision where available;

(b)

the time and place of the trial or Summary Hearing, and the nature of the charges against the accused;

(c)

any final judgement in the trial or Summary Hearing, including a brief summary of reasons for the decision where available;

(d)

information enabling you to know about the state of the criminal proceedings on your request unless the proper handling of the case may be adversely affected by such notification;

(e)

where you are notified of a decision that qualifies for a review under the Service Police, Commanding Officers or Service Prosecuting Authority victims’ right to review schemes, that you are entitled to receive sufficient information to enable you to decide whether to request a review;

(6)

to be informed how often you will receive updates on the status of the case following discussion with the investigator;

(7)

an explanation, without unreasonable delay, of a decision not to investigate a crime;

(8)

to be advised, without unreasonable delay, when an investigation into the case has been concluded with no person being charged or referred, and to have the reasons explained to you.

Annotations

Commencement

I1: Sch. para. 58 in force at 16.11.2015, see reg. 1

Footnotes

f1: Information will be provided to your last known correspondence address or electronic contact details given by you to the service provider. In exceptional cases, for example due to the high number of victims involved in a case, information may be provided through the press, through an official website of the service provider or through a similar communication channel.
f2: See also paragraph 39 of this Code.