Guidance for practitioners working with victims and witnesses who speak English as a second or additional language

Good practice guide to provide guidance for practitioners working with victims and witnesses who speak ESL.

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As part of the Language Barriers in the Criminal Justice System series, Victim Support has produced a good practice guide to provide guidance for practitioners from non-statutory agencies working with victims and witnesses who speak English as a second or additional language (ESL), to inform their working practice and improve the experiences of, and engagement with, service users. Although the focus of this guide is for those from non-statutory organisations, practitioners from criminal justice agencies may also find it useful.

This guide provides an overview of how speaking ESL has an impact on victims’ and witnesses’ well-being, experiences and outcomes in the criminal justice system (CJS) and in relation to services for victims. It provides information about how victims and witnesses of crime who speak ESL can be better helped to access services for victims and what they find useful when engaging with these services. It also outlines additional challenges victims and witnesses who speak ESL face and strategies that can be deployed to mitigate them.

These guidelines provide some working principles to help inform and direct practice, but they do not attempt to cover all eventualities when working with victims and witnesses who speak ESL. The guidelines can be used to inform decision making. No guidance can replace the need for practitioners to use their own professional judgement.

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Copyright and all other intellectual property rights in ‘Language barriers in the criminal justice system – Good practice guidance for practitioners working with victims and witnesses of crime who speak English as a second or additional language’ and related materials are owned by The Bell Educational Trust Limited (operating as The Bell Foundation). ‘Language barriers in the criminal justice system – Good practice guidance for practitioners working with victims and witnesses of crime who speak English as a second or additional language’ and related materials are protected by copyright laws around the world that prevent unauthorised copying, adaption, translation into another language and other uses of them. All such rights are reserved. Anyone may print off and download ‘Language barriers in the criminal justice system – Good practice guidance for practitioners working with victims and witnesses of crime who speak English as a second or additional language’ and related materials for non-commercial use as long as The Bell Foundation is acknowledged as the source. No part of ‘Language barriers in the criminal justice system – Good practice guidance for practitioners working with victims and witnesses of crime who speak English as a second or additional language’ or related materials may be modified, adapted, or translated and must not be shared with any third parties. ‘Language barriers in the criminal justice system – Good practice guidance for practitioners working with victims and witnesses of crime who speak English as a second or additional language’ or related materials may not be reproduced for financial gain or commercial purposes without the proper written agreement of The Bell Foundation. If you print off, copy or download any part of ‘Language barriers in the criminal justice system – Good practice guidance for practitioners working with victims and witnesses of crime who speak English as a second or additional language’ or related materials in breach of these terms of use, your right to use ‘Language barriers in the criminal justice system – Good practice guidance for practitioners working with victims and witnesses of crime who speak English as a second or additional language’ and related materials will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

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The Bell Educational Trust Limited is a charitable company limited by guarantee number 1048465, established on 5 April 1972, and a charity registered with the Charity Commission number 311585.

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  • Guidance for practitioners working with victims and witnesses who speak English as a second or additional language

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