Final guidance on the prosecution of cases involving
child sexual abuse in England and Wales is to be published.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer(photo) said it represented the biggest
shift in attitude across the criminal justice system "for a
generation".
Under the guidelines, prosecutors are told to focus on the credibility of
allegations, not on whether victims make good witnesses.
All suspects will also be investigated to see if they possess indecent
images.
The guidelines cover how victims should be treated and how a case should be
built and presented in court.
The BBC's legal correspondent Clive Coleman said it was "something of a
watershed moment".
Victims have previously been disbelieved or discouraged, he said, but the
new guidelines represented a move towards a "more sophisticated knowledge
of psychology".
A list of "myths and stereotypes" about behaviour previously thought
to negatively impact the credibility of young victims has also been
included, so the use of such preconceptions can be challenged in court
by prosecutors.
- The list includes inconsistencies in what the victim remembers and whether they were drunk or wearing revealing clothes.
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A joint protocol for information sharing in child sexual abuse cases
has also been published alongside the guidelines, in which police and
prosecutors are expected to share information with social services,
schools and family courts.
The publishing of the final guidelines follows a three-month public consultation. They will come into force in England and Wales on 1 January 2014.
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