Domestic Abuse Related Death Review

As part of the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act (2004), since April 2011 Community Safety Partnerships have had a statutory responsibility to commission Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews (DARDRs). These were previously known as Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs), but were renamed in 2024 to better reflect the different types of death the reviews examine, which includes suicides relating to domestic abuse, and other domestic abuse related deaths.

More information can be found on GOV.UK - Domestic homicide review

What is a Domestic Abuse Related Death Review? 

A Domestic Abuse Related Death Review (DARDR) is an official investigation into deaths related to domestic abuse. They consider the circumstances in which the death of a person aged 16 or over has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by:

• a person to whom they were related or with whom they were or had been in an intimate personal relationship
• or a member of the same household as themselves.

To prevent further domestic abuse related deaths, the purposes of a DARDR is to:

• identify any lessons to be learned about the way in which local practitioners and agencies work to safeguard victims, and identify how agencies will respond to these lessons
• apply those lessons to service responses including changes to policies and procedures as appropriate
• improve intra-agency and inter-agency working to better service responses for all domestic violence victims and their children.

Where the Community Safety Partnership has conducted a review, an executive summary and overview report will be published. The aim is to improve transparency about the processes in place across all agencies to protect victims of domestic violence and abuse.