Our Victim Service Standards: what victims can expect from us

We know the criminal justice system can be confusing. Making things easier for you as a victim is one of our key priorities.

This page explains what you can expect from the Crown Prosecution Service: our relationship to you, the way we will treat you, and how we’ll assist you through the criminal prosecution process.

For a step-by-step explanation of what happens when a case comes to the CPS, see our online victims’ guides.

Read on for information on:

• How the CPS works with victims
• Our Victim Service Standards, which set out the service we’ll provide to you.
• The services and support schemes you can expect from us.

Victims and the CPS: what’s our role in relation to you?

As the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), it’s our job to prosecute the right person for the right offence. We are independent of the police and work closely with them to bring offenders to justice wherever possible. You can learn more about our role within the criminal justice system on our About CPS page.

Often, we ask a victim or witness to help us by telling the court what happened. It’s important to note that we prosecute cases on behalf of the state, rather than individual people. That means we are not a victim's lawyer, in the way that a defendant has a defence lawyer. The state (or the Crown) is always the one ‘bringing the charge against’ (officially accusing) the defendant.

Why does it work like this?

It works this way to guarantee that everyone has a right to a fair trial.

• This means that people are considered innocent until it has been proven in court that they are guilty.
• The evidence has to prove this ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ – meaning the court is sure the person is guilty, rather than thinking it's likely they are.
• Since prosecutors decide whether to prosecute someone, they have to follow strict rules to make sure that decision is made for the right reasons.
• The prosecutor’s independence is a key part of keeping this process fair.

Our prosecutors are trained to:

• Assess evidence fairly and make legal decisions independently.
• Decide whether there’s enough evidence for someone to realistically be found guilty.
• Decide whether prosecuting someone is in the public interest.

They do this using a piece of CPS legal guidance called the Code for Crown Prosecutors. (Find more information about this on our Code for Crown Prosecutors page).

Why can’t the CPS discuss my evidence with me?

Our prosecutors aren’t allowed to discuss evidence with you as a victim.

This is because it’s important that your evidence is your own, and that it hasn’t been influenced by anyone else – or any other evidence used in the case.

Your rights as a victim

The fair trial process doesn’t mean that you, as a victim of crime, are left out. Your experience is extremely important not only to us but to all criminal justice agencies.

Victims have twelve rights explaining how they should be treated by criminal justice system agencies. Read about them on the Ministry of Justice’s Victims' Code page. The Victims’ Code also sets out who is responsible for updating you at each stage of the case.

Being a victim of a crime can be a difficult experience for anyone. Find support to help you cope with the impact of a crime on the Ministry of Justice’s Victim and Witness Information website. You can also access counselling and other psychological therapies from the NHS. There is no need to delay therapy or counselling for any reason connected with a criminal investigation or prosecution. If you feel it would help, it’s important to access it as early as possible.

The service we’ll provide to you

The CPS has three Victim Service Standards, setting out the level of service we’ve committed to consistently provide to victims.

We’ll communicate with empathy.

• We’ll treat you with dignity and respect.
• Our communications with you will be clear and empathetic.
• We know everyone is different; we’ll be sensitive to your needs and take them into consideration wherever we can.
• We’ll listen to you and guide you to available support services.

We’ll provide you with clear explanations of our decisions.

• We’ll be open and honest about our decisions and give you the information you need to understand them. If we can’t provide that information, we’ll explain the reasons why.
• Our language will be easy to understand, using straightforward terms.
• We’ll provide you with information in alternative languages or formats if you need it.
• Being a victim of crime means that you are likely to come into contact with a number of different organisations. Some of these will provide a service directly to you, such as the provision of information or support, and others will have contact with you because of your involvement in a court case.
• We'll work closely with these organisations to ensure you are provided with a single source of consistent information.

We’ll listen to your feedback and use this information to improve our services.

• We aim to provide the highest standard of service and to get things right.
• You can provide feedback when we get things right or make a complaint when our service falls short. We’ll use your feedback to learn and make improvements to our service.
• If we make a mistake, we’ll take responsibility for it and apologise.
• This is how you can contact us: online, phone, email, or post.
• Contact details for all CPS Areas can be found on our CPS Areas page.

What you're entitled to

As a victim of crime, you’re entitled to the following services and support schemes from the CPS.

Have your questions answered when you come to court to give evidence

You might be asked to come and tell the court what you know about the crime (for example what you saw or heard happen). If you are, you’re known as a ‘witness’ – this just means you’re someone (other than the defendant) who is being asked to give evidence in court. In these circumstances, all victims who are asked to do this are referred to as witnesses, which is why you might hear yourself described as one.

If you are attending court on the day of the trial as a witness, then – before the trial starts – someone from the prosecution team will introduce themselves to you. They will answer any questions you might have about the process, including what to expect. Find more information in this section of our victims’ guide, under ‘the first day of the trial’.

Witness expenses: You’re entitled to claim back certain expenses such as travel, meals, overnight stays, childcare, and adult care. The CPS aims to pay all correctly completed expense claims within 10 working days of receipt. You can claim these via the witness expenses form on GOV.UK after you attend court.

Ask for support with giving your evidence: ‘special measures’

We know that giving evidence at court can feel daunting. For victims that are legally ‘vulnerable’ or ‘intimidated’ (explanation below), there are things we can formally ask the court for to help you feel more comfortable. They’re called special measures and include things like having a screen put up so you can’t see the defendant; or giving your evidence from somewhere other than the courtroom via a ‘live link’, which is like a video call. Special measures help you ‘give your best evidence’, which means you can tell the court what happened in the best way you can.

To fit the legal meaning of vulnerable, you would:

• Be under 18 at the time of the court hearing;
• Or have physical or mental needs that could affect you giving your best evidence without special measures.  

To fit the legal meaning of intimidated, you would:

• Feel very scared or upset in a way that will affect you giving your best evidence;
• Or be a victim of a sexual offence or domestic abuse;
• Or be a victim of modern slavery;
• Or have witnessed a crime involving a gun or a knife.

Find more information about this in the special measures section of our victims’ guide.

Get an additional service as a victim of rape and serious sexual offences

Talk to your Victim Liaison Officer: Victims of rape and serious sexual offences should be provided with the direct email address of a CPS Victim Liaison Officer. The Victim Liaison Officer will act as your dedicated CPS point of contact, and can directly answer any questions you have about matters involving the CPS. If applicable, we’ll also provide your independent sexual violence advisor (ISVA) with the Victim Liaison Officer’s email address.

Request a meeting with the prosecution team: Before the trial takes place, adult victims of rape and serious sexual offences will be offered a meeting with a member of the CPS prosecution team. This meeting is for you to ask any questions you might have about the upcoming trial, as well as about the support we can provide. Your Victim Liaison Officer will contact you to make the offer of the pre-trial meeting, taking into account your specific needs and preferences. Find more information in this section of our victims’ guide under ‘Offer to meet the CPS’.

Get an additional service as a bereaved family member

We also offer an additional service to bereaved families who have lost a loved one in cases such as murder, manslaughter, and death caused by dangerous driving.

We will offer to meet with you to explain the legal decisions we’ve made and why. If we have decided to prosecute, we’ll offer this meeting shortly before or after the defendant has been charged, letting you know what to expect at each stage of the process.

We’ll also offer to meet with you after the defendant has either been found guilty or acquitted of the crime – to talk about next steps and answer questions.

You don’t have to meet with us if you don’t want to. You can also change your mind about whether you want to. Find more information on our information and support for victims & witnesses page, under ‘Information about the CPS Service to Bereaved Families’.

Be told about our decisions

We will let you know when we make a decision to:

• Stop or “discontinue” a charge;
• Change or “alter” a charge – meaning that it becomes less or more serious (and affects the maximum sentence the defendant could get if convicted at court).

We will do this as clearly as possible, explaining any legal terms so you can understand why we’ve made that decision.

Timeline: You’re entitled to hear from us within five working days of us making the decision.

If you’re a victim of a very serious crime, have been persistently targeted, or are legally ‘vulnerable’, then you have enhanced rights. This means you’re entitled to hear from us within one working day of us making the decision. (We have explained what legally ‘vulnerable’ means under the above section ‘Ask for support with giving your evidence’. For explanations of what counts as a very serious crime, see the Victims’ Code.)

Make a victim personal statement

During the initial investigation, the police will ask you if you’d like to write a victim personal statement. This is your opportunity to explain how the crime has impacted you. If you'd like guidance on what to include in your victim personal statement, you can visit the GOV.UK Victim Personal Statement page.

If the defendant is found guilty, we will share your victim personal statement with the court – emphasising how this crime has affected you as the victim at the heart of it.

You can read the victim personal statement to the court yourself, or you can ask us to do it for you. A parent or carer could also do it on your behalf.

If you’d like to read it yourself, we can ask the court for special measures to help you do so (see above). You can also claim any expenses. Find more information in this section of our victims’ guide under ‘if the defendant is found guilty’.

Ask us to review our decision not to charge a suspect

If we decide not to prosecute the case, we will explain the reasons why. Usually this is done via your police contact, but in some types of case our prosecutor will send you a letter.

If you’re unhappy with the decision, you have the right to ask us to consider it again using our ‘Victims’ Right to Review’ scheme. Asking us to do this is simple: you don’t have to give specific reasons – it's enough just to tell us that you’d like us to review the decision.  Ideally you should ask us this no later than 10 working days after you’ve been notified. You can do so easily online, or call us if you prefer.

A new prosecutor will review the decision made about your case – usually within 30 working days. They will write to you to explain why they’ve decided to either uphold or change the decision made by the previous prosecutor. If you think it will help, they’ll offer to speak to you and discuss the case either over the phone or in person.

If you’re not happy with the decision of the new prosecutor, you can request a further review of the case. This will be carried out by our Appeals and Review unit.

Find more information in this section of our victims’ guide under ‘If we decide not to charge – and your right to review’.

Give us feedback or make a complaint

We want to know if our service falls short so we can put things right and learn from it. We also want to know if we’ve done something well so we can share best practice and keep doing it.

You can complain about either or both of the following:

• The legal decisions we have made
• Our service (the way we have acted towards you).

Get in touch with us online, by email, post, or by telephone within six months of the issue happening. Find the appropriate contact details on this page listing our CPS Areas.

If you complain, we'll reply to you within 20 working days. If you are unhappy with our response, you can ask for your complaint to be given to a senior manager from the CPS, who should reply with an outcome of your complaint within 20 working days.

If you've complained about our service to you, and you are still unhappy with the outcome of your complaint, you can send your complaint to the Independent Assessor of Complaints (IAC) to investigate. The IAC is independent of the CPS.

If you want to give feedback about your experience, either positive or negative, you can do that at any time. There are no time limits.