The Domestic Abuse Commissioner's annual report for 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, published on 20 July 2026, sets out the office's work on criminal justice, family court monitoring and support for survivors.
Key facts
- Who: Survivors of domestic abuse, including those involved in child arrangements cases in the Family Court, and the services that support them
- From: 20 July 2026 (publication date; the report covers 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025)
- Source: Domestic Abuse Commissioner's annual report: 2024 to 2025
The report, from Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, describes the office's work over the financial year.
Family Court monitoring. The Family Court is described as one of the most prominent reasons victims and survivors contact the Commissioner. The office continued work on the Family Court Review and Reporting Mechanism (FCRRM). This is a research pilot looking at how the family courts recognise and respond to domestic abuse in child arrangements cases, and at the experiences of parties and professionals in those proceedings.
Fieldwork took place during 2024 at three court sites in England and Wales. It included a review of 300 child arrangements case files, half finalised by magistrates and half by family judges, all closed between 1 January and 31 December 2023. Researchers also observed live hearings over a two-week period between March and June 2024. They held focus groups with survivors and interviewed judges, magistrates and Cafcass or Cafcass Cymru officers. The full findings and recommendations are due to be published in the next financial year.
Family justice work. The office responded to consultations, supported Ministry of Justice workstreams and took part in working groups on the potential national rollout of Pathfinder courts. The report says its working relationship with Cafcass deepened.
Criminal justice. The January 2025 report Shifting the Scales found that only 4% of alleged domestic abuse perpetrators are dismissed from the police. Of its 12 recommendations, six have seen meaningful progress. These include a government commitment to a presumption of dismissal for officers found guilty of gross misconduct.
Early prison release. The Commissioner's pressure secured an exclusion that prevented some domestic abuse perpetrators from being automatically released after serving 40% of their sentence rather than 50%.
Children and other work. The office requested information from over 150 organisations that commission nearly 700 domestic abuse services for children and young people. It also held over 12 roundtables on how Section 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act, which recognised children as victims for the first time, is working in practice. It sought information from 21 pilot areas on domestic homicide reviews.
Survivor engagement. Nearly 700 survivors were surveyed on their experiences of the criminal justice system. The first survivor summit brought together 25 survivors, and 89% of survivor attendees said they felt heard by ministers and civil servants.
What this means for people involved in child arrangements cases
The report describes research and policy work rather than a change to court rules or procedure. The Family Court pilot's full findings and recommendations have not yet been published and are due in the next financial year. Anyone with a family court matter should take advice on their own circumstances before any deadline passes.
Sources
- Home Office, Domestic Abuse Commissioner's annual report: 2024 to 2025, published 20 July 2026