This essay will firstly discuss the increased interest towards victims and the implications of this increased attention, followed by some discussion of the adversarial nature of English justice and implications for victims as well as some consideration of the conflict between the interests of the offender and the victim, and the opposed nature of the two. Many new initiatives favour the victim and pledge for better treatment, as seen particularly in the 2002 White paper Justice for All, but it will be shown that there are conflicts between policy and practice. It cannot be disputed that support for victims has increased in the last decade, most recently with the introduction of the EU directive as to the rights of the victim. In this essay, …show more content…
Victims have become a central element in policies relating to crime, used as a factor to assess the success of the criminal justice system, but arguably we need to move past this notion of “only counting convictions as hits”. (Blunkett, cited in Jackson, 2003) Whilst government does much to publicise the shift towards a victim centred justice system, the concern remains surrounding the tensions between policy and practice, are their intentions for more rights for the victim, or greater punishment for the defendant. Thus we see this debate between policies that promote popular punitiveness, when in practice perhaps we need to be considering a “different kind of communitarianism.” (Jackson, 2003) As some people have put it ‘there is always room for doubt about politicians motives in drawing attention to victims’ (Williams, …show more content…
Integrating a victim perspective in criminal justice through victim impact statements. In Crawford, A. & Goodey, J., eds. Integrating a victim perspective within criminal justice: international debates Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Chapter 8.
Goodey, J., 2005. Victims and victimology: research, policy and practice. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Hall, M., 2009a. Victims of crime in policy making: local governance, local responsibility? Howard Journal of Criminal Justice. 48 (3), pp. 267 – 279.
Home Office, 1996. The victim’s charter: a statement of service standards for victims of crime. London: Home Office.
Home Office, 1998. Speaking up for justice: report of the interdisciplinary working group on the treatment of vulnerable or intimidated witnesses in the criminal justice system. London: Home Office.
Home Office, 2005. The code of practice for victims of crime. London: Home Office. Available at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/victims-code-ofpractice2835.pdf?view=Binary [Accessed 21st November 2014].
Humphrys, J ( 2005) Lost for Words The mangling and manipulating of the English language. London: Hodder & Stoughton
Jackson, J., 2003. Justice for all: putting victims at the heart of criminal justice? Journal of Law and Society. 30 (2), pp. 309 –
Justice can be achieved through various processes and principles if applied correctly, similarly justice can also be denied through these same processes and principles. This is exemplified through the Andrew Mallard case (M v The Queen 2005 HCA 68), and the missing persons case of Kieffen Raggett (2007) which shows how the incorrect application of processes like police investigations and coronial inquests can lead to justice being denied. Furthermore, legal principles such as; the rights of the accused and victims, are instrumental in achieving justice as shown through the application of these principles within these cases. These processes and principles can fail due to prejudged conclusions, police corruption, human error and cultural barriers
The criminal justice system is dynamic and has changed rapidly since the works of Cesare Beccaria and Cesare Lombroso during Enlightenment Period and this reflects in the issue of intersectionality with the changing approaches taken towards concepts of gender, race and class. Sexual assault will be a predominate study used throughout the essay to examine the different approaches and issues between traditional and non-traditional justices. This essay will first establish where are these intersectionalities found in terms of sexual assault cases and the challenges victims face in the legal process with traditional approaches then followed by a comparison to the transition towards non-traditional alternative justice system has responded with a deeper insight into restorative justices and its effects on resolving these challenges. The role of alternative justice and the key challenges in disproportionate crimes are also important aspects of intersectionality in Australia as they aim to resolve challenges women and the mentally disabled encounter during processing through court in the criminal justice system.
I take into consideration that instead of authorizing the state or professional to ratify and speak their mind, the most relevance to a case the court should take into consideration of what the victim seems fit as a fair punishment or payment in forms of restitution, whether it is labor or monetary to then go along with the judge 's sentence. “The Charter, apart from other things, sets forth that the victim should enjoy the same rights as the culprit. But it is not enough to put this in writing, the law has to be changed in such a way that the victim is not only not deprived of his say, but has rights at least equal to those enjoyed by the accused”. I agree with the previous quote due to the fact that victims should not be deprived from speech and equality. I believe that by having the original parties engaged rather than being driven to the side, society will be more concerned to make sure that everyone is given fair, equal and consistent resolution to a conflict. This would establish that the neighbourhood and state have a set of shared values and goals that they are working towards to support social order. “At present, the role of a victim of a crime is only at the periphery of the criminal justice delivery system. Once the first information is furnished, the only stage at which the victim comes into the picture is when she is called upon to give evidence in court by the prosecution. The victim virtually
Victim support in Australia is a fundamental accessory to provide victims of crime the necessary support in dealing with judicial process at the beginning, during and aftermath. A key concern within victim support is the reliance on critical support services in relation to physical, emotional and mental health. Background information indicates that people who become victims of crime and suffer mental illness are more vulnerable to an increased level of traumatic experience. A report published in 2009/10 shows “…that people with mental illness-related disability are three times more likely to experience violent crime than the general public” (Wilson & Segrave, 1997). A branch of victim support is through a relevant state or territory police service. Police-based victim services are categorized into “…three broad models: unit services, dedicated liaison officer services, and referral services” (Wilson & Segrave, 1997), it is also noted in opposition to policing agencies providing these services that “…reinforcing a view that dealing with victims of crime is not ‘real policing’. A gap identified in available
Focuses on harms and consequent needs (the victims’, as well as the communities’ and the offenders’).
The Criminal Justice System, a framework the British government set up to manage the treatment of culprits, has three principle objectives to accomplish social request, these are, (1) implementing criminal law, (2) keeping up peace in the general public, and (3) helping casualties. This may appear to be a well-considered framework, yet like some other association, there are blemishes, and one of the real imperfections is separation, and the predisposition that originates from segregation.
When the victim does not fit the ideal victim attributes which society has familiarised themselves with, it can cause complications and confusion. Experts have noticed there is already a significant presence of victim blaming, especially for cases involving both genders. The fear of being blamed and rejected by the public is prominent in all victims. Victim blaming proclaims the victim also played a role in the crime by allowing the crime to occur through their actions (Kilmartin and Allison, 2017, p.21). Agarin (2014, p.173) underlines the problem of victim blaming is due to the mass of social problems and misconceptions within society. The offender can have “an edge in court of public opinion” if victim blaming exists, resulting in the prevention of the case accomplishing an effective deduction in court (Humphries, 2009, p.27). Thus, victims will become more reluctant to report offences because of their decrease in trust in the police and criminal justice system, leading to the dark figure of
Before assessing the archetypes of justice, it is important to note that the criminal justice system strives to ‘deliver justice for all’. It’s main objective is to ‘punish the guilty, while protecting the innocent’(Criminal Justice System, 2010). Even in the outline of its aims, the clash and discord between punishment and protection is evident. With nearly half a million employees collectively working to achieve said ambitions (CJS, 2010), clear principles are needed to guide the flow of policy decisions, hence the relevance of the discussion at hand.
In recent years, the subject of crime has become an increasingly important theme of political, academic, and public debate. In particular, the media today is more focused on victims than it has ever been before. Through media representations of the ‘ideal victim’, this essay will subsequently show how the media are able to construct and re-affirm pre-existing traditional ideologies within the public realm. In effect, this assignment will critically assess the concept of an ‘ideal victim’ and show how the media have used this when describing crime.
Wolhuter, Lorraine, Neil Olley, and David Denham. Victimology: victimisation and victims’ rights. London: Routledge-Cavendish, 2009.
Victims of crime have been known to be underrepresented in Australian criminal justice processes (Baldry et al. 2013). In order to resolve this issue a number of reforms have been introduced with the aim to allow the victim greater involvement in criminal justice processes; for example the introduction of the Victim Impact Statement (VIS) allows victims an opportunity to be included in court processes (Israel 2017, p. 525). However, this essay argues that some victims of crime, specifically victims with intellectual disabilities, are still underrepresented during criminal justice processes despite these reforms. One example of such underrepresentation is shown through the current policy initiative of cross-examination; this process is not effective
Christie, N. (1986) ‘The ideal victim’, in E. Fattah, (Ed.), From Crime Policy to Victim Policy: Reorienting the Justice System New York: St Matins Press
Hodgson, Jacqueline. "Adding Injury to Injustice: The Suspect at the Police Station." Journal of Law and Society Mar. 1994: 85-101. Academic OneFile. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.
Offenders are protected today by both the rule of law, ensuring that all offenders are treated equally, regardless of their age, sex or position in the community, and due process, which ensures that all offenders are given a fair trial with the opportunity to defend themselves and be heard (Williams, 2012). Beccaria’s emphasis on punishment being humane and non-violent has also carried through to modern day corrections. It is still the case today that offenders must only receive punishment that is proportionate to the crime they have committed and the punishment is determined by the law. The power of the judges and the magistrates to make decisions on punishment is guided by the legislation and they do not have the power to change the law (Ferrajoli,
Once we have determined who is a victim and how that determination is applicable to them we must determine the victim reaction after the crime. Will they seek help and report the crime? How will they react to the community’s response? The latter which leads to the fourth broad question of general victimology which is how society will, in turn, react to the victim after the crime (Doerner & Lab, 2012).