Revisiting the Witness Charter: a backbone for witness care in regulatory enforcement
- R2B Training & Consultancy
- Apr 13
- 7 min read
The criminal justice system cannot function without people who are prepared to give evidence. Every regulatory prosecution relies on witnesses and victims who are willing to tell their story and stand behind it. A person-centred approach is therefore a condition for fair and effective investigations.
The Witness Charter: standards of care for witnesses in the criminal justice system (the Witness Charter) has been in place for several years. It quietly sets out what witnesses should be able to expect from the criminal justice system in England and Wales.
Alongside it sits the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime in England and Wales and supporting public information materials, often called the Victims’ Code. Together, these documents offer a clear framework that regulatory enforcement agencies can use to shape policies, procedures and training around witness care.
This article revisits the Witness Charter from a regulatory perspective. It sets out what the Charter is, who it covers, how it relates to the Victims’ Code, and how investigators, lead inspectors and enforcement officers can use it as a backbone for person centred practice.
What the Witness Charter is, and who it is for
The Witness Charter is a standards document issued by the Ministry of Justice. Its purpose is to describe, in one place, the level of service a witness can expect when they are involved in a criminal case in England and Wales.
The Charter explains that it applies to all witnesses to a crime or incident and to character witnesses, but not to expert witnesses. It covers witnesses who give evidence for the prosecution and for the defence. It is intended to apply across the whole criminal justice system, including the police, prosecutors and the courts.
That definition is deliberately wide. It includes:
people giving factual evidence about what happened (witnesses of fact), such as tenants, residents, workers, service users, neighbours and members of the public
character witnesses, who speak about a person rather than the incident
professional witnesses, such as inspecting, investigating or enforcement officers, whose statements set out inspections, notices, risk‑to‑life statements and other enforcement steps
When a regulatory offence is prosecuted in the criminal courts, these are the people the Charter is talking about.
The Charter does not create new legal duties and it does not replace legislation. Instead, it sets out “standards of care” which agencies are expected to meet as far as they reasonably can. Those standards are expressed in plain, service orientated language.
How the Witness Charter sits alongside the Victims’ Code
The Witness Charter is often mentioned in the same breath as the Victims' Code. They are linked but distinct.
The Victims’ Code focuses on those who have suffered harm because of a crime. It covers physical injury, emotional harm and financial loss, and it extends to certain family members and to some businesses. It sets out rights and minimum levels of service for victims, such as:
being told how to report a crime and what will happen next
receiving information about key decisions, including decisions not to charge
being offered the opportunity to make a Victim Personal Statement
being signposted or referred to support services
By contrast, the Witness Charter focuses on people who give evidence. It is not limited to those who have suffered harm. It applies to anyone who is asked to act as a witness in connection with a crime or incident, whether they are a victim, another witness of fact, a character witness or a professional witness, with the exception of expert witnesses.
For regulatory enforcement agencies, this gives a useful way to think about reference points:
when investigators are dealing with harm and impact on people and businesses, the Victims’ Code is the primary guide
when investigators are dealing with the witness journey and standards of care for those who give evidence in regulatory prosecutions, the Witness Charter is the relevant guide
The same person may fall into both groups. A resident living with serious fire risk or a worker injured by unsafe machinery may be a victim under the Victims’ Code and a witness under the Charter if they provide evidence.
Core ideas in the Witness Charter
The Witness Charter is structured around the stages of a case. It starts with a summary of key standards of care and then sets out, in more detail, what should happen:
when a witness first reports a crime or incident
during the investigation
in the run up to court
at court
after the case has finished
Several core ideas run through the document and are particularly relevant to regulatory work.
Fair and respectful treatment
The Charter emphasises that witnesses should be treated fairly and with respect. It expects agencies to recognise and respond to communication needs and other barriers, so that witnesses can take part effectively.
A clear point of contact
Witnesses should have a main point of contact who can answer questions, keep them updated and point them towards further support if needed. This is presented as a standard, not an optional extra.
Explanation and information
From the first contact, witnesses should be told what is happening and why. When they report a crime or incident, they should be given information about what will be done with that report, who will be dealing with it, and how they can follow up. When they give a statement, the purpose of the statement and how it may be used should be explained and they should have the chance to check and correct what is recorded.
Assessment of needs and consideration of special measures
The Charter expects that agencies will identify early whether a witness may need additional support, particularly where they may be vulnerable or intimidated. It links this to the system of special measures, which allow certain witnesses to give evidence in ways that make it easier and safer for them to take part, for example by using live video link or giving evidence behind a screen.
Information about outcomes and follow up
Witnesses should be told the result of the case and, where appropriate, offered the chance to discuss it with support services. They should also be informed about claiming expenses and about how to raise concerns if standards of care are not met.
The above can be translated directly into policies, procedures and training for regulatory enforcement agencies.
How regulatory enforcement agencies can use the Witness Charter
Regulatory enforcement agencies often work at the very start of the “witness journey” described in the Charter. Tenants call housing enforcement teams. Residents speak to fire safety departments. Workers contact health and safety inspectors. Small businesses and consumers report issues to trading standards. By the time a case reaches a prosecutor or a court, the tone of witness care has already been set.
The Witness Charter can be used as a backbone in several concrete ways.
1. Structuring witness care policies and procedures
Agencies can use the Charter’s staged approach to structure their own witness care policies. For example:
mapping internal processes against the Charter’s stages (initial contact, investigation, pre‑trial, court, post‑case)
drawing out specific commitments for each stage, based on the Charter, such as providing a main point of contact, explaining the process when a statement is taken, and informing key witnesses of the outcome where appropriate
identifying where responsibility for each element sits, for example with lead inspectors, investigating officers, enforcement leads or legal teams
This helps ensure that witness care is built into procedures rather than being left to individual discretion.
2. Clarifying roles: lead inspectors and main points of contact
The Charter’s expectation that each witness has a main point of contact can be aligned with existing roles in regulatory practice. In many cases, the lead inspector or lead investigating officer is best placed to fulfil this role.
Policies can make that link explicit, for example by stating that:
each key witness will be told who their main point of contact is
that person will normally be the lead inspector or investigating officer
where responsibility transfers, witnesses will be told who their new contact is
This creates clarity for witnesses and for staff.
3. Creating standard witness information materials
Many police forces and criminal justice agencies already provide leaflets or online pages explaining what it means to be a witness and what to expect at each stage. The CPS “Information for witnesses” page, for example, walks through the journey from giving a statement to attending court, and explicitly links back to the Witness Charter as the source of the standards witnesses should receive. Home Office circulars also introduced a standard leaflet, “Giving a witness statement to the police – what happens next?”, to be handed to witnesses when their statement is taken.
Regulatory enforcement agencies can adopt a similar approach by creating their own “what happens next” or witness information sheet for regulatory cases, linked to the Witness Charter and the Victims’ Code, and by building a simple check into their own practice to show that it has been briefly explain and given. In some services, that might be as straightforward as a brief contemporaneous note in an officer’s Notebook or electronic log, recorded as part of local good practice.
This gives investigators a practical tool to support their explanations and provides witnesses with something they can refer back to.
4. Informing training for investigators, inspectors and enforcement leads
Training programmes for regulatory investigators can use the Witness Charter as a central reference. This might include:
exploring case studies and asking how the witness journey compares with the Charter’s standards
practising how to explain processes and decisions in clear, straightforward language
understanding when and how to raise potential special measures with prosecutors, based on information gathered from witnesses
The Victims’ Code can be brought into the same training when looking specifically at harm, Victim Personal Statements and victim specific rights.
5. Linking to wider person-centred initiatives
Many regulatory agencies already run projects or training that seek to embed victim and resident voices in enforcement. The Witness Charter and the Victims’ Code can be referenced in these initiatives to show how local practice sits within a wider national framework. For example:
where agencies are working on Victim Personal (Impact) Statements (incl. Business Impact Statement), the Victims’ Code provides the underpinning
where agencies are working on witness statements, witness care and preparation for court, the Witness Charter provides the underpinning
This helps to join up work across teams and avoid the sense that each area is operating in isolation.
A framework that is already there
The Witness Charter and the Victims’ Code have been in place for some time and have already been through consultation and revision at national level. For regulatory enforcement agencies, they provide a ready made framework for person centred practice, one which applies just as much to regulatory prosecutions as to other criminal cases.
Using both documents in this way allows regulatory enforcement agencies to strengthen witness care and victim support around existing investigative work, without having to start from a blank page.
