Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Chair Qualification

Under section 9(4) of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) is a review of the circumstances in which the death of a person aged 16 or over has, or appears to have, resulted from domestic abuse. Deaths related to domestic abuse are horrendous and pervasive, and still too often hidden from view. A Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) is an opportunity for national and local agencies, local communities, and society as a whole to pay attention to each individual victim and to treat every death as preventable.

The purpose of a DHR is to understand what lessons can be learnt from domestic abuse-related deaths and to identify and implement local and national learning to better safeguard victims of domestic abuse. DHRs are not inquiries into how the victim died or into who is culpable; that is a matter for coroners and criminal courts, respectively, to determine as appropriate.

The Community Safety Partnership (CSP) is responsible for appointing an independent Chair of the local DHR Panel.The DHR Chair should not be directly associated with any agencies involved in the DHR or the CSP.