Out of Court Resolution Scrutiny Panel

Out of Court Resolutions for Adults and Children

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) define Out of Court Resolutions (OoCRs) as “One of several methods of concluding the action of the criminal justice system in respect of a crime without proceeding to a prosecution. They are administered by the police and help them to deal quickly and proportionately with low-level, often first-time offences.”

For more information on OoCRs please follow the link below:

Out-of-Court Resolutions | South Wales Police

Out of Court Resolution Scrutiny Panels

Out of Court Resolution Scrutiny Panels are held quarterly for both adults and children. The Adult OoCR Scrutiny Panel in the South Wales Police (SWP) force area has been in place since 2014. Separate Child OoCR Scrutiny Panels have been developing since 2021, following the recognised need for distinct child focussed panels. For the children panels, a separate panel is held for each Basic Command Unit (BCU) to ensure appropriate oversight of cases across South Wales.

All panels are chaired by an independent panel member to strengthen the independence and transparency of scrutiny during panel meetings.

Panel Purpose

The purpose of the panels is to determine whether the method of Out of Court Resolution is considered appropriate, based on a review of the information and evidence available to the decision maker at the time. The panel considers the offence category, severity of offence, evidence present at the time of disposal, rationale in officers’ decision-making process and whether decisions were victim focused. The panels take a person-centred approach, recognising the characteristics, experiences, needs and relevant information about the adult or child when considering the appropriateness of the decision.

Panel Process

A dip sample of cases are selected by a member of the Commissioner’s office in advance of the panel meeting.  Cases are selected in line with the agreed panel theme. All panels are thematic and themes are chosen based on available evidence and data. For children panels, themes are discussed and selected at the annual Youth Multi-Agency Day, where youth justice partners and organisations come together to discuss priority issues within youth justice and share good practice. For Adult panels, each panel also reviews a minimum of three cases which involve a Cautioning and Relationship Abuse (CARA) intervention. CARA is an early intervention used for alleged first-time domestic abuse offenders who receive a Conditional Caution. CARA aims to increase awareness and help people understand what domestic abuse is, its impact and its consequences.

Each case is reviewed and discussed in detail and members vote as to how they feel each case was resolved as follows:

1 = Appropriate and consistent with policy

2 = Appropriate with observations

3 = Inappropriate and inconsistent with policy

4 = Panel unable to reach a decision

In cases where the panel are unable to reach a conclusion, the Chair has the deciding vote.

Panel Membership

Membership varies across the Adult and Children Panels but consists of representatives from a cross section of internal and external stakeholders such as:

• The Police and Crime Commissioner Office (OPCC)
• Magistrate Bench Chair
• His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service
• The Crown Prosecution Service
• District Crown Prosecutor
• Youth Justice Service
• South Wales Police (SWP)
• South Wales Justice Services
• His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service
• Victim Support services
• Specialist Support Services

Panel Feedback

Feedback from the panels is shared and escalated through established governance structures for action by South Wales Police and relevant partners. It is fed back to officers and supervisors, embedded in training to support cross-organisation learning, and used to inform wider policy development.

An annual report and quarterly infographics following each panel will be published on the website and can be found below.