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What might ‘successful’ coercive control prosecutions look like?

Porter, Antonia (2023) What might ‘successful’ coercive control prosecutions look like? In: Bettinson, Vanessa and McQuigg, Ronagh, eds. Criminalising Coercive Control: Challenges for the Implementation of Northern Ireland’s Domestic Abuse Offence. Routledge Focus . Routledge, pp. 81-98. ISBN 978-1-03-238487-0. E-ISBN 978-1-00-334530-5. (Access to this publication is currently restricted. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:99401)

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Abstract

The Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland is committed to driving up the rates of coercive control convictions. This chapter considers what can be learned from prosecutors in England and Wales concerning the particular challenges presented by these cases. When set against the criminal trial’s usual focus on discrete, incident-specific or ‘transactional’ events, offences concerning ongoing patterns and systems of power seem ill-fitted and consequently present unique obstacles. Whilst the evidential (realistic prospect of conviction) hurdles are known (Bettinson and Bishop, 2015), this chapter identifies a number of further issues facing the pre-charge and trial prosecutor; these include pre-charge disclosure, offence date considerations and trial advocate speeches and examination of witnesses. The chapter locates its analysis in the wider context of the managerial demands now imbued in the prosecutorial role and reflects on prosecutorial strategies that might assist attrition rates. However, the chapter also counsels caution. Prosecutors are reminded that what constitutes a ‘successful’ outcome for a survivor may lie outside of committed and strategic implementation of the substantive criminal law. Ultimately, taking domestic abuse ‘extremely seriously' (Public Prosecution Service, 2022) for survivors may not align with prosecution performance measurements, requiring a cultural shift away from the criminal justice paradigm.

Item Type: Book section
Uncontrolled keywords: Coercive control prosecutions; Northern Ireland
Subjects: K Law > K Law (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > Kent Law School
Depositing User: Antonia Porter
Date Deposited: 04 Jan 2023 14:22 UTC
Last Modified: 06 Oct 2023 11:05 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/99401 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Porter, Antonia.

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