Commentary on Sections Part 3: Victims Etc Section 35: Victims rights to make representation and receive information
117.Section 35 replaces section 69 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000. It provides that where the court convicts a person (the “offender”) for a sexual or violent offence and imposes a prison sentence of a minimum of 12 months or sentence of detention, the local probation board must take reasonable steps to establish whether the victim of the offence wishes to make representations about whether the offender should be subject to conditions on release (and if so, what conditions), or wishes to receive information about those conditions. If the victim dies express such a wish, the relevant local probation board becomes responsible for forwarding any representations the victim makes to the authority responsible for decisions on release. The board would also be responsible for informing the victim whether the offender will be subject to any conditions in the event of release; for providing details of any conditions about contact with the victim or his family, and for providing any other information it considers appropriate. The section defines the relevant local probation board as the board of which the supervising officer of the offender after release (if there is one) is an officer or the board for the area in which the offender is detained.