By Danny Shaw BBC News home affairs correspondent

"Putting victims first" is one phrase which has come to embody the government's approach to reform of the legal system and the laws on sentencing.

"Rebalancing the criminal justice system in favour of the victim" is another one.

Encouraging victims to step forward is part of the government's drive

The Home Office has done its bit - steering the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act through Parliament.

The Act establishes an independent Commissioner for Victims and gives the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority the right to recover from offenders the money it has paid to their victims in compensation.

Now, the Department for Constitutional Affairs has set out its five-year plan to help victims and witnesses.

At the heart of the proposals is the belief that victims and witnesses are unfairly dealt with by the courts.

Intimidation

According to the department, witnesses are often not kept informed about their cases.

They are given short notice of the need to attend hearings and kept waiting to give evidence.

Sometimes they turn up to find their cases have been re-scheduled, and they are not given enough protection from intimidation.

Ministers have set seven criminal justice priorities for victims and witnesses to improve the service they get from the courts.

The emphasis is on improving facilities to ensure they do not have to come face-to-face with defendants.

Underpinning the strategy is the government's aim to bring more offenders to justice.

Only about four out of 10 people currently believe that the system is effective at doing this.

Domestic violence victims are often afraid to speak out

Of course, a more efficient police service and legal system can help, but without the evidence there will not be any successful prosecutions.

Evidence could be witnesses, such as the woman who has been battered by her husband but who is scared to attend court to testify.

It could be the child who has had his mobile phone stolen at school but is afraid to name the culprits.

Or it could be the elderly couple who are too frail to cope with the ordeal of facing the men who burgled their house.

These are all examples of the kinds of cases which stand or fall on the willingness of witnesses to give evidence.

If the government can help more witnesses like these come to court, then it has a chance of increasing the conviction rate.

And that, in turn, would increase confidence in the system itself.