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How to complain
The Victims’ Code sets out a
minimum standard of service that
criminal justice agencies will be
expected to provide to victims of
crime as from April 2006. That
service ranges from keeping victims
informed about the progress of
their case; the outcome of court
hearings; offenders’ bail conditions;
forthcoming appeals; post-sentence
issues and compensation
applications to providing assistance
to victims at court.
The
Parliamentary Ombudsman
provides a complaint handling
service for victims of crime who
have a complaint about the way in
which any of the criminal justice
agencies has carried out its
obligations under the Code and
who have been unable to get their
complaint satisfactorily dealt with
by the agency concerned.
If you are a victim of crime in
England or Wales and believe a
criminal justice agency has failed to provide you with the service set
out in the Victims’ Code, you
should contact an MP, who can
then refer your complaint to the
Parliamentary Ombudsman. It is usually best to approach your constituency MP when you wish to put a complaint to the Ombudsman. If you don't know who your MP is, you can find out by going to the constituency locator. (opens in new window) Alternatively, telephone our Helpline on 0845 015 4033 or the House of Commons Information Service on 020 7219 4272.
A list of criminal justice agencies can be found at the end of this page.
The information we need
from you
When you complain, it would help
us if you could provide as much
information as possible about why
you are dissatisfied with the way in
which an agency has dealt with
your complaint. It would be helpful
if you could include the following
information, but please do not
worry if you do not have it:-
• details of any telephone
conversations with the agency;
• copies of any letters between
yourself and the agency;
• what aspect of the Victims’
Code you believe the agency
failed to fulfil; and
• the Crime Reference Number
you were given by the police.
Please do not send copies of any
witness statements you have made
to the police. While the
Ombudsman will consider the
service provided to you under the
Victims’ Code, she cannot consider
the investigation of crime (see Page 7 of How we can help). Page 10 of
the leaflet explains that the
Ombudsman won’t normally
investigate a complaint sent to an
MP more than 12 months after you
became aware that you had a
reason to complain. However, there
may be good reasons why you
didn’t wish to complain earlier, so
please get in touch. We still want to
hear from you and will consider
whether we can help.
We would like to contact you to
discuss your complaint. How would
you like us to contact you? (for
example, telephone; email; letter)
Please let us know if there are any
days, times or dates on which you
would prefer us not to contact you.
If you are complaining on behalf of
someone else, please ask if they
would be happy for us to have their
contact details.
Organisations required to provide services under the Code
• The Criminal Cases Review Commission
• The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority
• The Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel
• The Crown Prosecution Service
• Her Majesty's Courts Service
• The joint police/Crown Prosecution Service Witness Care Units
• All police forces for police areas in England and Wales, the British Transport
Police and the Ministry of Defence Police
• The Parole Board
• The Prison Service
• The Probation Service
• Youth Offending Teams
How to contact us:
If you want further information about how to complain or want to know more
about how the Ombudsman can help, please contact the Victims’ Code Unit:
telephone: 020 7217 4013
email: VictimsCodeUnit@ombudsman.org.uk
letter:
Victims’ Code Unit
Office of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Further information
 Download the Victims' code: How to complain leaflet (pdf 823 kb)
We will shortly have available a new Victims' Code leaflet in a range of formats and languages.
Download the order form for the Victims' code: How to complain leaflet (pdf 40 kb)
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