The Mentor Court Project
The Mentor Court Project aimed to reinvigorate the Specialist Domestic Abuse Court (SDAC) model nationally, improving the criminal justice response to domestic abuse across England and Wales.
We worked with a range of partners including the Centre for Justice Innovation to better understand the current picture and where improvements are needed to keep victims and survivors safe.
This page contains all the research and event recordings which were carried out as part of the project and further information on setting up an SDAC. If you have any questions, please contact criminal.justice@standingtogether.org.uk.
1. Developing the 2 SDACs at Westminster Magistrates Court into Mentor Courts, to showcase best practice by offering stakeholders the opportunity to observe the SDACs in session and commissioning an independent evaluation of the court’s work.
The project was funded by the DCMS Tampon Tax fund for two years up to the end of March 2023. It delivered two key workstreams:
2. National mapping work to build a picture of existing SDACs in England & Wales, and identifying whether local sites are meeting the minimum standards of the DABPF and/or features of the SDAC model.
Our findings
The Mentor Court Project created a wide evidence base demonstrating the current picture of SDACs across England and Wales. Part of this work involved Standing Together establishing observation and learning sessions at SDACs across the country, conducting national research to find and evaluate courts and provide capacity-building support to other areas. Onward funding was also provided to Advance for the provision of Specialist Criminal Justice IDVAs for the project. Research conducted by our evaluation partner the Centre for Justice Innovation independently evaluated the Westminster SDAC and demonstrates the urgent importance of providing specialised IDVA support for victims and survivors from Black and minoritised communities.
The findings across the research conducted clearly demonstrate the need for specialist court models and tailored criminal justice responses to domestic abuse. While we found pockets of good practice across the country, we also found a serious lack of consistency between regions in terms of specialised court provision.
Evaluation of the Westminster Specialist Domestic Abuse Court
A safe place and a safe time: effective advocacy for Black and minoritised victims and survivors
Findings report: mapping of SDACs across England and Wales
Guide to SDACs
We also created a comprehensive guide to Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts as part of the Mentor Court project. The pack is designed to support court observers build their understanding of the history of the model and how it works in practice.
You can download the SDAC Guide here. If you have any questions about the content or are interested in implementing an SDAC in your area, please contact us on criminal.justice@standingtogether.org.uk and our team will support you through the next steps.
Events
We hosted two events as part of the Mentor Court Project, presenting the findings of some of the research we carried out. The panel discussions included speakers such as Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner; Mike Mallon from the CPS; and Hannah Jeffrey from the Centre for Justice Innovation alongside other expert speakers.
We are happy to provide recordings of these online events and to share the learning and debate they encouraged. Please contact us if you would like to discuss the events or have any trouble accessing the links.