Improving services and support to victims and witnesses of crime in Northern Ireland

Kit Chivers and Brendan McGuigan attended the launch of a five-year strategy aimed at improving the services and level of support provided to victims and witnesses of crime in Northern Ireland.  The strategy, which was developed by a multi-agency group the Victims, Vulnerable or Intimidated Witnesses Steering Group (VVIW), Victim Support NI and the NSPCC, was unveiled in the Hilton Hotel, Belfast by the Criminal Justice Minister Paul Goggins, MP.  The strategy for 2007-12 contains many of the recommendations made by CJI in its 2005 inspection report on Victims and Witnesses.  The launch was also attended by the Lord Chief Justice, the Rt. Hon Sir Brian Kerr, Susan Reid, Chief Executive of Victim Support NI and Martin Crummey, Director, NSPCC Northern Ireland.  Electronic copies of the strategy document are available on the websites of the NIO and the CJSNI website as well as from the websites of other partner organisations.