Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR)
Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR) are required by law and in Caerphilly, this is the responsibility of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP).
The purpose of a DHR is to consider the circumstances that led to domestic violence homicide so that public bodies, community and voluntary sector organisations can identify where responses to the situation could have been improved.
A DHR does not seek to lay blame but considers what happened and what could have been done differently. DHRs do not replace but are in addition to any inquest or another form of inquiry into the homicide.
Once reviews are complete and agreed by the Home Office they are published and available online.
A DHR is a review of the circumstances in which the death of a person aged 16 or over has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by:
- a person to whom she/he was related or with whom she/he was or had been in an intimate personal relationship, or
- a member of the same household
The purpose of a DHR is to:
- establish what lessons can be learned from the domestic homicide regarding the way in which local professionals and organisations work individually and together to safeguard victims
- identify clearly what those lessons are both within and between agencies, how and within what timescales they will be acted on, and what is expected to change as a result
- apply these lessons to service responses including changes to inform national and local policies and procedures as appropriate
- prevent domestic violence and homicide and improve service responses for all domestic violence and abuse victims and their children by developing a coordinated multi-agency approach to ensure that domestic abuse is identified and responded to effectively at the earliest opportunity
- contribute to a better understanding of the nature of domestic violence and abuse
- highlight good practice
When a domestic homicide occurs, the relevant police force informs the relevant Community Safety Partnership (CSP) in writing of the incident. Overall responsibility for establishing a review rests with the local CSP as they are ideally placed to initiate a DHR and review panel.