Agreement protects the vulnerable
Monday, 10 November, 2008
Greater Manchester is leading the way in protecting vulnerable people thanks to a groundbreaking agreement launched recently at the Manchester Civil Justice Centre.
Greater Manchester's Family Justice Council brings together the police and their partners to provide services through the family and civil courts to protect victims of domestic abuse, forced marriage and harassment. The newly launched protocol sets out the working arrangements between the family, civil and criminal justice systems that will ensure victims and children are properly protected by any orders made in the family and civil courts.
The protocol sets out clearly the steps to be taken and the responsibilities of relevant agencies once orders have been made and also the steps to be taken by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service if an offender is arrested for being in breach of an order. By speeding up the process of providing information to the police and making significantly more relevant information accessible to all police officers through the Police National Computer, it should ensure that offenders who have breached relevant orders will be quickly held accountable for their actions. Offenders can be jailed for up to five years for breach of an order.
Ian Hopkins, Assistant Chief Constable for Public Protection at Greater Manchester Police said, "Protecting vulnerable people sits at the very core of our work within the police service and this protocol will assist all the various agencies.
"The focus of the work is to ensure victims are properly protected which will increase their own confidence and enable them to break the cycle of domestic abuse."
