Prosecutors need to show more empathy in letters to victims of serious crime

By Hannah Spratt

Prosecutors in Northern Ireland are STILL failing to show enough empathy in letters to victims of serious crime.

Inspectors say there's not been enough progress after a damning report in 2015.

It criticised how the Public Prosecution Service here dealt with the cases of three women allegedly abused by a member of the IRA.

Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice, Brendan McGuigan says it's concerning.

Mr McGuigan continued by saying "I am concerned that while there were some excellent examples of empathetic letters sent to victims which explained decisions in an easy to understand manner, just under half of the correspondence was assessed by Inspectors not to be sufficiently empathetic.

"The issue of communication with victims and witnesses and record keeping are areas which CJI has highlighted in the past and one which we will return to as part of future inspection work on domestic violence and abuse and sexual violence and abuse," said Mr McGuigan.

Concluding his remarks Mr McGuigan said: "The establishment of a Serious Crime Unit within the PPS to deal with the most serious cases including murder, manslaughter and sexual offences is an encouraging development. 

"In the last two years the PPS has undergone extensive organisational and structural change and I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge facing the PPS, or the considerable efforts of the senior management team to implement necessary changes identified internally and by the Starmer Review.

"I welcome the steps taken to date to meet the requirements of the Starmer recommendations but I believe the PPS is on a journey which is not yet complete.  Further work is required to address inconsistencies between policy and practice, embed the changes and fully embrace the spirit of the Starmer recommendations across the organisation," said Mr McGuigan.