Labour would boost police powers to charge domestic abuse suspects

Labour has pledged to help domestic abuse victims get justice by giving police fresh powers if it wins the next general election.

Lawyers at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decide whether suspects should be charged.

But Labour says a breakdown in communication between police and the CPS has led to unacceptable delays.

It wants to allow police to bypass the CPS and make charging decisions themselves in certain circumstances.

Police would be permitted to charge domestic violence suspects where releasing them from custody could endanger the victim and where lawyers have been unable to make a charging decision in time, under Labour's proposals.

Home Office figures show that in the year ending March 2019, 11% of recorded domestic violence resulted in a charge. Last year's data showed the charge rate at 6.8%.

Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry said: "The paramount concern of the police and CPS should be delivering for victims, not defending their own turf.

"That means working hand in glove throughout the process, with joint action plans to reduce delays and friction, and get charge rates back up to where they should be."

Labour's charging commission recommended that six best-performing police forces should pilot bringing charges themselves against high-risk domestic abuse suspects, without waiting for the prosecutors to make a recommendation.

Police can already bring charges without consulting the CPS in most cases tried in the magistrates' courts.

Pilot scheme

Labour say the system, already being piloted by West Yorkshire Police, allows officers to bring charges more quickly when the legal limit for questioning under arrest draws near.

The charging commission was chaired by the former victims' commissioner and Labour MP Dame Vera Baird, and included former chief constable Stephen Otter, former chief crown prosecutor Drusilla Sharpling, and West Yorkshire deputy mayor for policing and crime, Alison Lowe.

Labour also say they could reduce police workload by changing data protection laws so officers no longer have to spend time redacting case details before sending them to prosecutors for a charging decision.

Some in the party say their calculations suggest police redactions can occupy the working hours of an equivalent of 1,000 officers a year.

"At the moment, thousands of officer hours every year are spent, in effect, Tipp-Exing out information just to get an initial charging decision," said a Labour statement.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was the head of the CPS between 2008 and 2013 before becoming an MP.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "After 14 years of Conservative government, more criminals are being let off and more victims are being let down.

"The catastrophic collapse in the proportion of crimes being charged must be reversed if victims are to have confidence in the system again - and the police and CPS must both play their part in turning things around."

A Conservative Party spokesman said: "Wherever Labour are in charge, they have failed to reduce crime - letting down local people who deserve to feel safe on their streets.

"We have driven crime down by over half since 2010 and recruited 20,000 more police, giving our police the resources they need to keep our communities safe."