Domestic Violence Courts Essay
Domestic violence courts are units in a judicial system that act as a tribunal and are specialized in dealing with; intimate partner violence, violence in family and general civil violence. This essay seeks to establish the focus of these courts in the criminal justice system.
Establishment of domestic violence courts has become one of the best ways to increase a high level of responsibility in the judiciary system. Evidence collected through significant international bodies suggest that domestic violence courts provide the best way to deal with the perpetrators of domestic violence and also in ensuring the safety of the victims (Feder & Dugan, 2016). These courts have become key in reference to how they deal with the cases of domestic violence. They ensure a high level of improved practice in the judicial system by establishing well organized strategies in dealing with the perpetuators of domestic violence and also ensuring fair interactions with the families of the victims.
When dealing with matters concerning domestic violence these courts combine the criminal domestic violence cases and the civil domestic cases on one calendar or the cases to be heard in different calendars .In some cases one judicial officer can be assigned to hear all the cases related to domestic violence and in other cases a court may decide to preserve one day in a week and assign judges who deal with mixed caseloads (Tsai, 2017). We also have some courts that have judges and prosecutors that have specialized only in prosecutions that involve domestic violence .These judges and prosecutors have more knowledge and expertise in the issues that are related to domestic violence. This means that their consistency in practice helps them apply more sensitivity in the way they handle these cases and also the way they deal with the needs of the victims. Domestic violence courts ensure that the prosecution process is done quickly and in an effective manner thus offering a fair justice to the victims. Fair and effective prosecution process is done because judges who have been dealing with the domestic cases consistently are able to identify the offenders who repeat these practices easily and prosecute them with a good background concerning their behavior (Karan, Keilitz, & Denaro, 2015).
Domestic violence courts have also changed the manner in which they handle cases of domestic violence, this is by altering the internal administrative processes in trying to ensure that the safety of the victims is maximized and also great accountability is taken care of. We also have other courts that have come with a special way of responding to the needs of the victims. This is by changing the way they track and collect information (Feder & Dugan, 2016). They have adopted a web based technology to store the information about the offenders and also it is used when sharing information between different courts and other correctional service units like the probation centers.
This web based technology has helped in identifying cases of domestic violence that involve the same defendant or cases that are related.For example in new york they developed a software application that is used to link the domestic violence courts with service providers and also with the law enforcement agencies (Tsai, 2017). The application program enables the victim advocates, judges and other intervention institutions to be able to access and share the same information. When an order of protection has been violated, the application program sends a notification inside the courtroom. This has helped much in bringing coordination and order in the justice system in cases involving domestic violence.
In conclusion we can say that, the dedication and specialization of these domestic violence courts has played a vital role in ensuring that criminal justice is offered in the right way and also their effectiveness in relinquishing strict law and order sends an important message to the perpetuators of these evil acts and to the public in the general that these practices will not be tolerated. This coordination and realization of the domestic violence courts in the many judicial systems has served as one of the best ways in ensuring effectiveness the criminal justice system.
References
- Karan, A., Keilitz, S., & Denaro, S. (2015). Domestic violence courts. What are they and how should we manage them, 77-112.
- Tsai, B. (2017). The trend towards specialised domestic violence courts. Improvements on an effective innovation, 230-342.