Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that a victim of crime who is under 18 years of age and who has no legal guardian or person with parental responsibility can gain access to the Crown Prosecution Service Victims' Right to Review Scheme; and by what means such a victim would gain such access.

For the purposes of the scheme, the definition of a victim is that set out in the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime as “any person who has made an allegation to the police, or had an allegation made on his or her behalf, that they have been directly subjected to criminal conduct under the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS).”

Victims of crime who are under 18 may therefore directly request a review under the CPS Victims’ Right to Review Scheme without the intervention of a parent or legal guardian.

The scheme is easy to access for all victims. Information about the scheme and contact details of the office to which a referral can be made is given to victims by the police or CPS when the decision not to prosecute is communicated. This communication will be made suitable to the age and understanding of the victim.

Access to the scheme is by post, telephone or email. There is no prescribed form or format and all communication is with trained staff.

Where a request is received directly from a victim aged under 18, enquiries are made with the child and where necessary, with the police officer in charge of the victim’s case, to establish that appropriate adult support is available.