Victims' rights : contemporary approach to criminal justice

Abstract

This thesis presents a study of the interaction between the criminal justice system and victims of crime. The comprehensive spectrum of issues considered focus on crime victims, their role, rights and needs. International instruments providing basic guidelines and standards aimed at improving the role and rights imparted to victims within the criminal justice system are thoroughly reviewed and their adoption and ratification recommended. In reference to the amendments contained in the White Paper 'Fighting Crime under the Rule of Law', along with suggested minor improvements, it is further proposed that the victim's right to be present is extended also before the Criminal Court and the right of the victim to make own submissions regarding punishment is substituted by a victim impact statement that offers the victim the opportunity to relate the trauma suffered and expenses incurred as a result of the crime. The remainder of the study is concerned with devising a structure incorporating a services model and a rights model aimed at sustaining a feasible and effective victim-oriented system. The administrative measures include the setting up of a victim support unit, which together with other criminal justice agencies is to furnish a network of services as provided in a set of guidelines, 'A Statement of Principles'. The legislative reform envisaged includes: a constitutional amendment ensuring equal and just treatment to victims of crime; the conceptualization in general terms of who is an injured party in terms of the law; and the provision, through a specific Act, of state compensation as a secondary means of redress to victims of violent crime. The restitution order, a fundamental concept of the study, is the primary means whereby the victim receives compensation from the convicted offender upon an order issued by the courts of criminal justice. The restitution is conceived as a criminal sanction and consequently does not affect the boundaries existing between civil law and criminal law.