'Misrepresentation' Claim over Crime Victims Pledge; Government Promises Are Likely to Disappoint, Committee of MPs Says

Beginning of article

Byline: Jack Doyle

GOVERNMENT claims that crime victims are at the centre of the criminal justice system are a "damaging misrepresentation of reality", a committee of MPs says today.

Ministers who tell victims that the system is being "re-balanced" in their favour are likely to leave them disappointed, the House of Commons Justice Committee says.

Their report, a wide-ranging examination of the role of the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales, dismisses attempts to portray prosecutors as "victims' champions".

Instead, the CPS should be an "independent arbiter" representing the public interest.

The report concluded: "The …