POLICE and the family courts in Lancashire are testing a new way to reduce the delay in domestic violence and child protection cases.
Every day officers deal with lawyers' asking for details for use in family court cases - but the is no standard way of handling the requests.
Too often they are made without prior warning, are incorrectly addressed, lack detail and are made at very short notice, wasting valuable police time and can lead to unnecessary delays.
But a nine-month pilot scheme devised by the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) and Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), will aim to tackle the problem and introduce a common protocol for the disclosure of information in family proceedings.
It will cover Burnley Combined Court, Chorley County Court and Nelson County Court and will involve Lancashire Police.
They will test the effectiveness of early requests contained in police records made in advance, sometimes avoiding the need for applications to the court for disclosure orders.
The pilot will be evaluated and, if successful, will be rolled out nationally towards the end of 2005.
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