Abstract
The suitability of ‘out of court resolutions’ (restorative justice and community resolutions) in cases of domestic abuse is theoretically contentious and empirically under-researched. This study investigated the nature and extent of out of court resolutions for domestic abuse using the Freedom of Information Act. Out of court resolutions were used by every UK police force except Scotland to respond to over 5,000 domestic abuse incidents (including intimate partner abuse) in 2014. Some of these incidents related to offences with sentencing tariffs up to life imprisonment. Such widespread use has been taking place ‘under the radar’ in stark contrast to police guidance, has immediate implications for policy and practice, and fundamentally shifts the research terrain in this field.
Highlights
The last 20 years has seen a major overhaul in the way domestic violence and abuse is policed in the United Kingdom
In 2014, out of court resolutions were used by all police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to respond to domestic abuse
When we look at the 24 forces that provided us with data relating to domestic abuse incidents, the proportion of cases dealt with using restorative justice or community resolution ranged from 0.1 per cent to 2.4 per cent of all domestic abuse incidents
Summary
The last 20 years has seen a major overhaul in the way domestic violence and abuse is policed in the United Kingdom (hereafter ‘domestic abuse’ in line with police terminology). The responses of the police and the criminal justice system more broadly remain deeply problematic. These concerns have been evidenced in academic research The following inspection 12 months on, found that a positive action approach exists on paper, this had still not been translated into effective, equitable practice (HMIC 2015: 17).
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