Guidelines
The Victim Right to Review only applies to decisions made on or after 1 April 2015 in cases where a suspect has been identified, formally interviewed under caution and either:
- the police make a decision not to bring proceedings in cases where the police have authority to charge or
- the police make a decision that the case does not meet the appropriate test for referral to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision.
The Victim Right to Review does not apply however to cases where:
- no suspect has been identified,
- charges are brought in respect of some (but not all) allegations made or against some (but not all) possible suspects,
- a charge is brought of a lower level than the offence recorded (e.g. common assault rather than actual bodily harm),
- the victim retracts their complaint or refuses to co-operate with the investigation and a decision is taken not to charge/not to refer the case to the CPS for a charging decision,
- cases which are concluded by way of out of court disposal (e.g. Caution, Conditional Caution, Restorative Justice, Youth Caution, Youth Conditional Caution and Police Notice of Disorder).
Ways to request a review
You can either call 101 or email 101 to request a review. Please make it clear you wish to ask for a review of a decision under the police Victim Right to Review scheme.
We will also require the following information:
- Name of victim
- Crime number – your case will not be identified without this
- Contact telephone number of victim
- Any issues you wish to raise such as the reason you would like this decision to be reviewed
The result of your review should be explained to you within 30 working days of your initial contact.
