Strengthening the State’s investigative duty under Article 3 ECHR: The Crime and Policing Bill 2025 and the legacy of DSD

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) imposes a positive obligation on states under Article 3 to investigate credible allegations of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. 

This duty was powerfully affirmed in DSD and NBV v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, where the UK Supreme Court held that serious investigative failings by police in response to sexual violence could breach Article 3, even where the perpetrator was a private individual.

As Parliament considers the Crime and Policing Bill 2025 and commits to halving levels of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade, it's timely to reflect on how legislative reform can reinforce the procedural protections established in DSD, particularly in the context of VAWG and child sexual abuse.

DSD and the procedural duty Under Article 3

In DSD, the Supreme Court recognised that victims of serious sexual violence are entitled to an effective police investigation. The Court held that both system and operational failings – such as the failure to collect evidence, interview witnesses, or connect similar complaints – could amount to a breach of Article 3 where they are egregious and systemic.

The ruling confirmed that the state’s duty to effectively investigate is not confined to cases involving state agents. This applies wherever there is a credible allegation of serious harm, and the investigation must be independent, prompt, and capable of identifying and punishing those responsible.

The Crime and Policing Bill 2025: Reinforcing investigative obligations

The Crime and Policing Bill 2025, which had its second reading in the House of Lords on 16 October 2025, introduces a set of reforms that directly respond to the investigative shortcomings highlighted in DSD, particularly in relation to VAWG and child sexual abuse.

The Bill includes several measures aimed at improving the state’s response to stalking and other forms of gender-based violence:

• Expanded Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs): Courts will be empowered to issue SPOs on conviction or acquittal, without requiring a police application. This removes procedural barriers and ensures timely protective measures.
   
• Multi-Agency Statutory Guidance: The Home Secretary will have the power to issue statutory guidance to police, teachers, and healthcare professionals on identifying stalking behaviour, managing perpetrators, and supporting victims. Agencies will be required to have due regard to this guidance, which will also set out a framework for a coordinated, multi-agency response.
   
• ‘Right to Know’ Provisions: Police will be guided on when and how to disclose the identity of online stalkers to victims, addressing a common gap in safeguarding.

These reforms reflect the procedural expectations under Article 3 by ensuring that victims are taken seriously, investigations are proactive, and protective measures are accessible.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

The Bill also implements key recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), significantly enhancing the state’s investigative and safeguarding duties:

• Mandatory Reporting Duty: Individuals in regulated roles must report known child sexual abuse to authorities. Failure to do so may result in professional sanctions or referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
   
• Criminal Offence of Obstruction: It will be a criminal offence to obstruct someone from making a mandatory report, with penalties of up to 7 years’ imprisonment.
   
• Enhanced DBS Checks: The Bill removes the supervision exemption, ensuring that all individuals in relevant roles are subject to the highest level of criminal record checks.
   
• Grooming as a Statutory Aggravating Factor: Sentencing courts must treat grooming as an aggravating factor in child sexual offences, recognising the seriousness of exploitation and coercion. This may result in increased sentences for offenders, reflecting the heightened culpability associated with grooming behaviours.
   
• Removal of Limitation Periods: Victims of child sexual abuse will no longer face a three-year time limit for personal injury claims. The burden of proof will shift to defendants to show that a fair trial is not possible, with the aim of easing access to justice for survivors. 
  However, it is considered that the proposed legislation in its current form risks creating uncertainty, and delays to justice for survivors, due to the inclusion of a “substantial prejudice” provision that defendants could seek to rely on. This was not part of IICSA’s recommendations, and the term is not defined.

Procedural obligations under Article 3

These provisions directly support the procedural obligations under Article 3 by mandating timely and effective investigations, removing barriers to justice, and recognising the psychological harm caused by institutional failures.

In addition to this, the bill aims to strengthen stalking protection orders and the management of registered sex offenders, including preventing them from changing their names on official identity documents where they pose a risk of sexual harm. 

The bill also creates a new offence of administering a harmful substance, including by spiking, to make it absolutely clear that such behaviour is illegal and encourage victims to report such incidents. Further to this, and in recognition of how dangerous online material is in perpetuating the growing epidemic of violence against women and girls, during the second reading the House of Lords proposed to bring forward and amendment to criminalise pornography that depicts acts of strangulation and suffocation.

Since 2017, the College of Policing has operated a police barred list – an advisory list which ensures that those officers who are dismissed by a police force in England and Wales are prevented from just joining another force. 

The Bill extends this approach, ensuring that officers dismissed at disciplinary proceedings from the National Crime Agency and other specialist forces cannot be re-employed by another force. This is vital to ensure a system of police accountability and to command the confidence of both the public and the police. The Bill now moves onto the Committee Stage in the House of Lords.

Conclusion: Legislative reform as a tool for human rights protection

The DSD case underscored the importance of effective investigations in upholding the dignity and rights of victims. The Crime and Policing Bill 2025 aims to embed stronger investigative duties, enhance multi-agency cooperation, introduce a number of new offences aimed at reducing VAWG and remove procedural obstacles that have historically undermined justice for victims of sexual violence and abuse.

If implemented effectively, the Bill has the potential to transform the state’s response to VAWG and child sexual abuse, ensuring that the procedural protections of Article 3 ECHR are not only recognised in principle but realised in practice.

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