Domestic Violence and Abuse

What is Domestic Abuse?

Domestic abuse is an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour, including sexual violence, inflicted by a current or former partner or close family member.

Anyone can be a victim of domestic abuse. Domestic abuse can include:

Coercive control
Psychological/emotional abuse
Physical abuse
Sexual abuse
Economic and financial abuse
Online and technological abuse

Everyone should feel safe and be safe in their personal relationships.

Domestic abuse denies victims a right to feel safe in their personal relationships. It can have a significant and enduring impact on victims and children who often face a continuing threat to their safety.

The Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021, which came into effect in February 2022, creates a new, specific offence of domestic abuse in Northern Ireland. It offers greater protections to all victims who have suffered abuse, including those experiencing controlling or coercive behaviour in a domestic context.

This domestic abuse offence criminalises a ‘course of abusive behaviour’. That is, behaviour that occurs on two or more occasions.

Abusive behaviour can include (but is not limited to) coercive control, psychological abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, economic abuse, online and technological abuse.

Where a single incident of abusive behaviour has been reported, or where there is insufficient evidence of a course of abusive behaviour, prosecutors can apply what is called a domestic abuse aggravator to an existing criminal offence, for example common assault, which increases the seriousness of the offence.

The Act also recognises the long-lasting impact of domestic abuse either directly on a victim, or indirectly where they have been used to abuse someone else.

Prosecutors also have a discretion to apply child aggravators to a domestic abuse offence charge. These aggravators may be applied where the victim of the domestic abuse is under 18 or where a child has been involved in the abusive behaviour.

Children may often not be aware that they are victims or that they are being used as part of abuse on someone else.

Who can be a victim?

Anyone can be the victim of domestic abuse irrespective of age, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or any form of disability

Domestic abuse can occur not only in intimate relationships, but also in family relationships such as abuse of parents or grandparents, as well as abuse of close family members more generally.

Put simply, domestic abuse occurs when the perpetrator and the victim are personally connected. That is, if they:

are, or have been, married
are, or have been, in a civil partnership
live together (or have lived together) as if they were married or in a civil partnership
are or have been in an intimate relationship - this is intended to cover relationships between two individuals (including young/teenage and same-sex relationships), although the relationship need not be sexual, nor long term or
are family members.

A family member includes a person’s parent, grandparent, child or step-child, grandchild or sibling (including half siblings). It also includes a person’s ‘in-laws’ (the parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or sibling of the person that they are in a relationship with, i.e. their spouse, civil partner, or someone they live with as if they are married or in a civil partnership). Half-blood and step-relationships are also covered.

What happens when a file comes into the PPS?

If you are the victim of domestic abuse the PPS would strongly encourage you to report it to police. The police will investigate, gather evidence about potential criminal offences and build a case.

If they have evidence in relation to a suspect, they will send an investigation file to the PPS. We will work with police to ensure they gather all relevant evidence and build the strongest case possible.

When a prosecutor receives a police file, they will carefully consider all the evidence and apply what is known as ‘the Test for Prosecution.’

The prosecutor will decide if there is enough evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction in court and – if there is - whether the prosecution is in the public interest. Usually where there is sufficient evidence, a prosecution will proceed.

We will write to you to tell you whether your case meets this Test and whether we will prosecute

You can read more about the Test for Prosecution on the How We Reach Decisions page.

How are victims kept informed about their case?

When the Police submit a file to the PPS, the victim will be contacted by our Victim and Witness Care Unit by letter.

A VWCU case officer will be assigned to the case to keep the victim informed about the progress of the case at key points, in line with the rights set out in the Victim Charter. We will do this in whatever way you prefer to ensure that you receive the information safely.

This will include, for example, when a prosecutor takes a decision in their case or if a defendant is granted bail or bail conditions are substantially changed. We will also update the victim about key court hearings.

If you are called to give evidence in court, we will check your availability and will let you know about the location, dates and times of relevant hearings and provide information on the facilities available at all court locations.

Your case officer will discuss with you and assess your needs to make sure you are provided with the specific support and guidance you need to give your best evidence in court. This may include the use of special measures, which are arrangements made by the court to help vulnerable victims feel able to give their best evidence.

We will also give you information about claiming for expenses you may incur in attending court and we can arrange travel and accommodation if you live outside Northern Ireland.

Once the case has been dealt with by the court, the case officer will let the victim know the result and any sentence imposed on the defendant.

Support for victims

We know that many victims of domestic abuse will find it difficult to report their experiences to police and go through the criminal justice system.

The PPS work with the Police Service of Northern Ireland to ensure that victims are treated with sensitivity, fairness, and empathy. Our prosecutors are specially trained to recognise the complex features of domestic abuse.

We are also acutely aware that there may be a continuing threat to the victim’s safety in domestic abuse cases, and in the worst cases a threat to their life or the lives of others around them.

There are various forms of support available for victims and witnesses and you can read more about these on the Attending Court page.

What happens at Court?

Our specialist domestic abuse prosecutors are highly trained and experienced lawyers who understand how complex these crimes can be, and the trauma experienced by victims.

They consider every case of domestic abuse carefully, sensitively and objectively.

We understand that experiencing the criminal justice system can be particularly difficult for victims of these offences.

We also work with voluntary and community sector organisations that offer support to victims throughout the process, from reporting the crime to giving evidence in court.

We can ask the Court to put in place Special Measures for victims or witnesses to further support them and help them to give their best evidence.

We are committed to dealing effectively with cases of domestic violence and abuse and apply our policy on Prosecuting cases of Domestic Abuse to all cases.

Sentencing

When the trial is over, the judge in the Magistrates’ Court or the jury in the Crown Court will decide if the defendant is guilty or not guilty. If the defendant is convicted of an offence involving domestic abuse or pleads guilty, the judge will decide the sentence.

In some cases, the sentence handed down by the judge may not always be what the victim had hoped for. Judges apply sentencing guidelines and there are limits on sentences that can be imposed.

The PPS will make sure that the court has all the information it needs to sentence appropriately, including any relevant information contained in a Victim Personal Statement, or in a Victim Impact Report which may have been requested by the court.

We know that domestic violence and abuse can have a devastating impact on victims and their families. The purpose of a Victim Personal Statement is to ensure that the court understands the victim’s views before it decides on the defendant’s sentence.

A victim of crime can explain the effect that the crime has had on them. This can include the physical, emotional or financial impact of the crime. You can read more about Victim Personal Statements by visiting the NI Direct website.

What if a victim does not want to proceed?

If a victim decides to withdraw their evidence or does not want a case to go to court, that does not automatically end the prosecution. The prosecutor will have to carefully consider a number of matters, including:

The seriousness of the case
The reasons why a person does not want the case to proceed
Whether there is any other evidence to prove the offending
Whether the victim has been intimidated
Whether there are children involved
Whether there is a risk of reoffending

If we still have sufficient evidence to proceed, we may decide to continue without relying on a victim’s evidence. Generally, the more serious the offence the more likely we are to continue with a prosecution, even if a victim does not wish us to do so.

If we need the victim’s evidence to prove the case, but they do not want to be involved, the prosecutor must consider a number of options, including asking the court to have the victim’s witness statement used in their absence. Sometimes we will send the victim a summons which means they have to attend court. This will usually only happen when the case is serious and the victim or children are at risk of further harm.

We will always seek the views of police before we decide to summons a victim to attend court. This will include an assessment of any risks that the victim will be exposed to.

Bail

If a suspect is arrested and charged with an offence, the police will decide whether or not to release the person on bail or to keep him or her in custody for the court to decide whether he should be released on bail.

PPS may ask that the defendant remains in custody to protect a victim, avoid interference with witnesses or stop further offences from being committed. If a suspect is released on bail we may ask for bail conditions to be imposed by the court, for example on condition that the suspect cannot contact you. PPS will work closely with the police and where possible will always try to ask for a victim’s views about bail.

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about reaching out but is afraid to?

We know that engaging with the criminal justice system can be frightening and traumatic for victims. You do not have to suffer in silence. If you feel able to report, please know that the PPS and the police are here to help you.

We encourage you to reach out and take that first step towards seeking support and help. You can call the free 24 hour Domestic and Sexual Abuse Helpline to talk through the options that are available to you.

24-hour helpline for Victims of Domestic and Sexual Abuse
Telephone: 0808 802 1414
Website: www.dsahelpline.org
Twitter: www.twitter.com/dsahelpline
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dsahelpline

Further support services for victims can be found on the NI Direct website.

Common questions about Domestic Abuse cases

The video below answers many of the questions victims may still have about how the PPS deal with cases of domestic abuse, and what you can expect from us and the wider criminal justice system if you have reported a crime to police.