Post by Taxigirl on Dec 2, 2003 9:42:07 GMT
Each year 120 women and 30 men are killed by current or ex-partners
Suspected domestic violence offenders face new court orders keeping them away from their partner under planned laws being unveiled on Tuesday.
The "stay away" orders will come into force whether somebody is found guilty or acquitted of violent crimes.
The measures are in the new Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill.
Ministers also want to prevent parents accused of killing their children from escaping prosecution if it cannot be shown which committed the crime.
KEY MEASURES
New "stay away" orders
Anonymity for victims
Register of offenders
Victims' commissioner
Tony Blair has given his personal backing to the moves, describing domestic violence as a "sickening" crime that has remained "in the shadows" for far too long.
Domestic violence accounts for a quarter of all murders in Britain.
New measures to tackle the problem were promised in last week's Queen's Speech and now the details are being published.
Officials say it is the biggest overhaul of the laws covering domestic violence since the 1970s.
Easier enforcement
It will cover gay couples and unmarried heterosexuals, as well as people who have never lived with their partners.
Courts can already order suspected offenders to keep away from their partners but the government is trying to make such orders easier to enforce.
Solicitor General Harriet Harman is saying the new system will include giving suspected offenders a "yellow card".
"The stay away order will... be issued in the magistrates and crown courts where there is a conviction for domestic violence, but also crucially where there has been an acquittal," said Ms Harman.
"Courts will be able, even as they are acquitting the defendant, to ensure the victim's safety by ordering him to 'stay away'.
"It will be, if you like, a yellow card and he will know that if he breaches the order that in itself will be a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison."
Early intervention
Ms Harman will highlight the plans in a speech on Tuesday to a domestic violence conference organised by Women's Aid and the Women's National Commission.
She will say the new bill is aimed at getting offenders into the criminal justice system at an early stage.
The prime minister said the crime was far more common than people thought and happened to all ages, backgrounds and classes.
"Domestic violence devastates families and ruins lives," Mr Blair writes in Tuesday's Sun newspaper.
"It's something this government, together with the police and courts, has worked hard to treat with the gravity it deserves.
"It is a symbol of our determination to rebalance the whole criminal justice system around the needs of the victim."
If it becomes law the bill will also:
Make common assault an arrestable offence
Trigger multi-agency reviews in cases of domestic murder, as happens with child killings
Establish a register for domestic violence offenders, forcing them to tell police when they change their addresses, as for sex offenders
Introduce a ban on the media naming victims of alleged domestic violence in court cases in an effort to encourage more people to come forward with complaints
Establish a victims' commissioner to speak up for the interests of victims
Abolishing the law that allows defendants to claim their spouse provoked them into murder - a move backed by Ms Harman - is under review by the Law Commission.
In a separate move, the Home Office is announcing its plan to close the loophole in trials where police cannot prove which parent killed their child.
Janet Paraskeva, chief executive of the Law Society, welcomed the bill but was worried about the plan to issue orders against acquitted suspects.
"We believe that the criminal court should refer the case to the family court for consideration of the issue," she said.