Has the level of protection for victims of domestic violence being improved by the law - Essay Example

This left the victim with the only solution of going back through the courts to request a power of arrest be attached to the injunction3. The 2004 Act has been extended to cover non married partners as well as married couples. The Act repealed s62(3) of the Family Law Act 1996 which laid down a requisite that the courts should take into account the non married status of cohabitants when making decisions regarding domestic violence incidents4. The new legislation also covers anyone who has lived in the same residence as part of a family.

This encompasses same sex couples as well as parent and child relationships where either the parents are being attacked by their children or vice versa. Traditionally very few cases of domestic violence ever get prosecuted at court and there seems to be a consensus of opinion within society that most couples will be reunited before the case gets before the courts5. In an attempt to address this problem the criminal justice system has created a new fast track system for domestic violence cases.

It has become a countrywide policy for most police forces to adopt the new fast track system with the effect that most cases are heard at court within 14 days of the incident occurring. It was felt by doing this that the courts could help support the victims better and to prevent the abuser from being able to convince their partner to discontinue the case against them. A further approach that has been adopted by the police is to proceed with prosecutions even when the victim has contacted the police to try to discontinue the case.

When victims have retracted their original complaint the courts have declared them as a hostile witness and where necessary have subpoenaed them to attend court. It has been suggested that domestic violence victims often change their minds because of dissatisfaction with the way in which the police and the courts treat them as victims. There is a tendency within the police and the court system to