Under the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, a domestic homicide review (DHR) must be carried out when the death of a person aged 16 or over has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by:
(a) a person to whom he or she was related or with whom he or she was or had been in an intimate personal relationship, or
(b) a member of the same household as himself or herself

The purpose of a DHR is:

• To establish what lessons are to be learned regarding the way in which local professionals and organisations work individually and together
• To identify clearly what those lessons are both within and between agencies, how and within what timescales they will be acted on, and what is expected to change as a result
• To apply these lessons to service responses
• To prevent domestic violence and homicide and improve service responses by developing a co-ordinated multi-agency approach to ensure that domestic abuse is identified and responded to effectively at the earliest opportunity
• To contribute to a better understanding of the nature of domestic violence and abuse
• To highlight good practice

The Home Office provide a leaflet for families explaining the purpose and mechanisms of DHRs.

More information about the DHR process can be found in the Home Office Statutory Guidance for the Conduct of Domestic Homicide Reviews.