Additions, Omissions, and Transformations in Institutional ‘Retellings’ of Domestic Violence

In this paper we examine how UK police officers investigating domestic violence (DV) make a formal written case to Crown Prosecutors. Using rarely accessed ‘management guidance’ reports (MG3 forms) we analyse how police of- ficers’ written contributions appeal to relevance and how they can ‘nudge’ p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Language and Law 2021-01, Vol.8 (1), p.76-96
Main Authors: Lynn, Nicholas, Canning, Patricia
Format: Article
Language:eng ; por
Subjects:
Convictions
Domestic violence
Legal language
Persuasion
Police
Police reports
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Summary:In this paper we examine how UK police officers investigating domestic violence (DV) make a formal written case to Crown Prosecutors. Using rarely accessed ‘management guidance’ reports (MG3 forms) we analyse how police of- ficers’ written contributions appeal to relevance and how they can ‘nudge’ prosecutors towards particular methods of case disposal, specifically, the ‘Simple Caution’. We propose that linguistic strategies can reduce the likelihood of convictions, and we raise serious concerns about the impact of police officers’ institutional ‘retellings’ in the pursuit of justice. In this paper we examine how UK police officers investigating domestic violence (DV) make a formal written case to Crown Prosecutors. Using rarely accessed ‘management guidance’ reports (MG3 forms) we analyses how police of-officers’ written contributions appeal to relevance and how they can ‘nudge’ prosecutors towards particular methods of case disposal, specifically, the ‘Simple Caution’.We propose that linguistic strategies can reduce the likelihood of convictions, and we raise serious concerns about the impact of police officers’ institutional ‘retellings’ in the pursuit of justice.
ISSN:2183-3745
2183-3745
DOI:10.21747/21833745/lanlaw/8_1a5