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While Sufferers Of Physical Abuse May Have Medical Records That The ...

While sufferers of physical abuse may have medical records that the prosecution can rely on when presenting their case, emotional abuse does not offer the same physical scars and as such relies much more heavily on the testimony of the victim. Due to the nature of relationships, the main concern with bringing a successful prosecution is that at the last minute the victim will have a change of heart and decide not to give evidence. This can result in the whole case against the defendant collapsing.
In order to ensure that prosecutions against abusers do not fail solely because of a change of heart by the sufferer, the police and Crown Prosecution Service must aim to construct their cases on the basis of a full investigation which does not solely rely on the evidence of the victim.
As such, any criminal justice policy which is intended to deal with domestic violence must also provide resources and avenues for intervention at an early stage as soon as the first signs of domestic violence become apparent. That said, early intervention must be measured and appropriate to the individual circumstances of the sufferer and other family members. Domestic violence may also be an indication of other problems within the family unit and as such, those that make first contact with the family need to be aware of the warning signs to look out for and have access to other support groups who can step in to assist if and when necessary.
One of the main criticisms of the big stick legislative approach towards domestic violence is that it can be an extremely blunt tool for dealing with situations which are emotionally charged. It also creates two regimes for handling these types of cases with the bulk of the work still being done by civil courts and now with a small portion also finding its way into the criminal courts. One of the fears of this dual approach is that the criminal courts and lawyers who do not have experience in dealing in family matters may find it difficult to adapt to the new regime and may unwittingly undermine the work that is being done in the civil courts.
The introduction of additional criminal penalties comes at the same time as the government introduces legislation which limits access to Legal Aid to those charged with criminal offences if their income exceeds £20,740. As this income level is below the national average wage, over fifty percent of people will not be eligible to be represented in criminal proceedings and will have to meet the costs of solicitors and barristers out of their own pocket. This is a shocking development which affects not only those charged with domestic violence offences, but the whole criminal justice system.

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