Prosecuting Domestic Abuse in England and Wales
Crown Prosecution Service ‘Working Practice’ and New Public Managerialism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12282934 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Antonia Porter (University of Kent, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 493-516 |
| Publication date | 2018-09-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social & Legal Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0964-6639 • E-ISSN: 1461-7390 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0964663918796699 |
| OpenAlex | W2892366525 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 34 |
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) regards offences of domestic abuse as ‘particularly serious’ and considers tackling violence against women a ‘priority’. This article examines how criminal prosecutors in England and Wales approach cases of intimate partner abuse in practice, specifically at the point when a complainant no longer wishes to support the prosecution. It first introduces ‘New Public Managerialism’ (NPM). This is the lens through which the qualitative responses of a sample of nine prosecutors are thematically analysed. Second, the primary research indicates a prosecutorial tendency or ‘working practice’ in 2017 disinclined to terminate cases on request, prompting instead the routine or habitual use of ‘witness summons’. Third, the article exposes how techniques of NPM have contributed to the identified ‘working practice’, often in concealed and unintended ways. Managerial priorities in this context appear to have restricted the free exercise of the prosecutor’s discretion to take decisions on a case-by-case basis. The implications for women’s safety and autonomy are considered
Context (archaeology · Criminology · Discretion · Managerialism · Plaintiff · Political science · Public relations · Punitive damages · Sociology · Witness · Wrongdoing · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Law · Sex work and related issues
Cooperative actors in domestic abuse and their association with prosecution
The magistrates' courts closure policy in England and Wales
Competing concepts of public value and legitimacy in the police
Going for gold
Punishing Mothers for Men’s Violence
Witnessing (Dis)engagement
A Dynamic Theory of Prosecutorial Roles in Adversarial Trials
Domestic violence
The Culture of Control
Two Models of the Criminal Process
Reflections on a Voice-centred Relational Method
Killing Her Softly
The New Management of British Local Governance
Creating Capabilities
What is Austerity
Prosecuting Domestic Violence
Criminal Justice and Neoliberalism
Prosecuting Domestic Assault
Beyond Managerialism in Criminal Justice
User Skills for Qualitative Analysis
Evidencing domestic violence*, including behaviour that falls under the new offence of ‘controlling or coercive behaviour’
Taking trauma seriously
Zombie neoliberalism and the ambidextrous state
The Victim-Informed Prosecution Project
Report of the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure
Government as Manager, Citizen as Consumer
Prosecuting Domestic Violence without Victim Participation
Police Response to Domestic Violence
Auditing Criminal Justice
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Brief History of Neoliberalism
Her Majesty's Stationery Office
Mandatory Arrest of Batterers
Undoing the Demos
What Is Managerialism
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,4 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |