Victims' Right to Review

Victims' Right to Review policy

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) Victims' Right to Review policy supports victims by giving them the ability to request a review when we decide to discontinue all charges against a defendant relating to a victim.

A victim or authorised support person has 10 business days from the time that they are informed, to submit a request for review, in accordance with the policy.

Who can request a review

A victim can request a review, specifically:

• A person who is alleged to have suffered harm as the result of an alleged criminal offence.
• A parent or guardian of a child victim or a victim with impaired capacity who is alleged to have suffered harm as the result of an alleged criminal offence.
• A family member of a deceased person who died as a result of an alleged criminal offence.

A victim can nominate a support person to act on their behalf and the ODPP will communicate with the victim and/or their nominated support person throughout the review process.

What decisions can be reviewed

The Victims’ Right to Review policy supports victims by giving them the ability to request a review when the ODPP decides to discontinue all charges against a defendant relating to a victim.

The policy does not apply to a decision to:

• discontinue some but not all charges against a defendant
• change or amend a charge/s against a defendant
• discontinue all charges made at the start of, or during a trial
• discontinue all charges against a defendant relating to a victim made by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

How we can help

When a victim requires assistance to complete the Victims’ Right to Review application form:

• any of our staff can provide support
• reach out to our victim liaison service
• an interpreter can assist a victim in their preferred language:
  • from within Australia: call 1800 512 451 and ask for an interpreter in your preferred language
  • from overseas: call +61 7 3022 6100 and ask for an interpreter in your preferred language.

How to submit your application

A victim can submit their request online or download a copy and send to us.

Privacy

The ODPP collects personal information from you, including information about your:

• Name
• Email address
• Address
• Phone number
• Commentary or opinion
• Name of another person(s)
• Relationship to other person(s).

We collect this information to process your request for a review of a prosecutorial decision in accordance with our Victims' Right to Review policy.

We will only use your information for this purpose. It will otherwise not be used or disclosed unless authorised or required by law. Your personal information will be handled in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009. Read more privacy and infomation security.