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Nikolic-Ristanovic, Vesna and Sanja Copic. The position of victims in Serbia: criminal procedure and possibilities of restorative justice.

In the paper, the authors deal with the victim’s position in the criminal procedure, on the one hand side, and the possibilities of implementing restorative justice and its importance for the improvement of victim’s position in Serbia, on the other one. In the first part of the paper, the authors point out victim’s position within the criminal procedure and the noticed gaps, which are particularly reflected in insufficient paying attention to the victim and neglecting of his/her rights and needs. This is opposite to the strengthening of the rights of the accused party that characterizes societies, which are, as our society, on the way of democratization and improvement of human rights. In the second part of the paper, the authors analyze some solutions that introduce elements of restorative justice into our system of criminal response to crime, but from the victim’s point of view. Finally, the authors also point out some further steps that should be undertaken in order to improve the victim’s position, particularly emphasizing the place and role of victim support service, witness service and special facilities in the courts for victims/witnesses, possibilities of using victim-offender mediation before reporting the crime, or staring the prosecution, or as a part of the treatment in the prison etc.

Michigan Family Independence Agency. Crime Victim Survey Provider Survey: Assessing the Availability, Accessibility and Adequacy of Service for Victims of Juvenile Crime in Michigan

Currently, there is a lack of awareness within the juvenile justice system regarding available victim services, how to access them and how best to address the needs of victims of juvenile offenders. Resource directories exist for specific types of victim services such as domestic violence, sexual assault or drunk driving. More than one group or organization has compiled a directory of victim service providers however they are not comprehensive and are not well publicized. In addition, the majority of established, well known victim service providers deal primarily with victims of adult offenders. An accessible, well- publicized and regularly updated database of victim resources (including those available for victims of juvenile offenders) is needed for victims of crime as well as service providers and justice system professionals. The information gained through this preliminary research will be used to update, consolidate and expand existing victim resource directories into one comprehensive Michigan victim services and resources database. The goal is create a database that can be updated at frequent intervals and that is user friendly. In the future, the information will also be used as part of a strategic planning process aimed at developing and implementing practices within the Bureau of Juvenile Justice that address the rights and needs of victims of juvenile crime. (excerpt)

Obold-Eshleman, Christa. Victims' Rights and the Danger of Domestication of the Restorative Justice Paradigm

Victims’ rights laws and restorative justice theory appear to converge in their mutual concern for reforming criminal justice to include the people most affected by a crime. However, asks Christa Obold-Eshleman, are victims’ rights laws truly compatible with restorative justice? She contends that the answer is complex and highly dependent on one’s view of the essence of restorative justice. Hence, Obold-Eshleman cautions those interested in the restorative justice model. She argues that a shift in the underlying theory of rights is necessary to arrive at a restorative conception of victims’ rights. To make her case, she first examines the basic ideas and philosophies of restorative justice. This leads to a discussion of the main concepts and provisions in victims’ rights laws. After analyzing victims’ rights concepts in the context of a restorative justice paradigm, she identifies points where proponents of restorative justice should embrace victims’ rights, and areas where restorative justice advocates should exercise more caution with respect to the formalization of victims’ rights.

Gruber, Aya. Righting Victim Wrongs: Responding to Philosophical Criticisms of the Nonspecific Victim Liability Defense

In recent decades, victims have become a much more integral participant in the criminal justice process. This is in large part due to the victims’ rights movement. Along with this, writes Aya Gruber, has been the promotion of a highly positive image of the victim – a “narrative of victimhood� in which the victim is utterly blameless, truthful, worthy of special consideration and rights, and trustworthy not to abuse those rights. Hence, while there is an increased presence of the victim in the criminal trial, there is not an equally increased scrutiny of wrongful victim behavior that may or may not assess a degree of possible liability on the part of the victim. In response, some advocate a nonspecific victim liability defense on behalf of the accused. It consists of a general defense that mitigates punishment or exculpates a defendant when his or her criminal behavior occurs in direct response to wrongful behavior on the part of the victim. In this context, Gruber seeks to develop and justify the nonspecific victim liability defense by responding to potential criticisms of the defense based in penal theory.

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. Good Practice Guidelines for Restorative Work with Victims and Young Offenders

As noted at the beginning of this document, the aims and objectives of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) are grounded in restorative justice. For example, key elements in those aims and objectives include involvement of victims of youth crime in the youth justice process, as well as assistance to victims to help them get over any harm resulting from the offense. The YJB has encouraged a variety of approaches to restorative practices, yet also has decided to set some standards for effective practice. This document, then, provides certain guidelines for good practices. Performance can be measured against these guidelines. The document consists of an introduction to the YJB and the rationale for guidelines; types of restorative practice; principles for restorative practice; steps in restorative processes; and the use of restorative approaches within the Crime and Disorder Act in England and Wales.

Herman, Susan. Viewing restorative justice through victims’ eyes

Despite improvements in the criminal justice system in addressing the needs and rights of victims, crime victims often feel further unsatisfied, alienated, and mistreated by the system. In theory, restorative justice promises to remedy this situation. Yet Herman asserts that this is not the case. She contends that restorative justice programs leave out most victims, and that restorative justice does not address many critical needs of victims. Hence, she calls for a restorative justice that would be truly victim-oriented.

Malsch, Marijke and Carriere, Raphaela. Victims’ wishes for compensation: The immaterial aspect

Malsch and Carriere observe that victims have various expectations of the criminal justice system. These expectations relate to both the process of the system and the outcome of the trial. The authors examine victims’ expectations in relation to Dutch legal procedures for compensation of immaterial losses suffered by victims. Their analysis includes a table presenting different types of damages and compensation, and suggestions for further research into this subject.

George, Chris. Victim Support’s perspective on restorative justice

Victim Support in the United Kingdom is a voluntary organization providing services to victims of crimes, their families, and crime witnesses. From that perspective, George maintains that restorative justice can offer real benefits to victims of crime. However, he further argues that certain issues must be addressed for this to happen. In this article George discusses several issues that would involve crime victims in restorative justice in integral ways, such as understanding how crime affects victims and offering victims genuine choices in restorative processes.

Cook, Bree and David, Fiona and Grant, Anna and David, Fiona. Victims’ needs, victims’ rights: Policies and programs for victims of crime in Australia

In this document the authors examine crime victimization in Australia. At the beginning of the report, they summarize their research methodology. Following that, they organize and present the research findings in these major categories (corresponding to chapters): crime victimization in Australia; the impact of crime on victims; responses to victims of crime; the development of victims services in Australia; and a descriptive overview of those services in the states of Australia. The authors then recommend directions for policies in Australia with respect to victims’ needs and rights. Additional material at the end of the report includes the following: list of participants in the research; state legislation relating to victims of crime; and the United Nations’ Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. A number of tables and figures in the text supplement the report with statistical information on crimes and crime victims in Australia.

de la Cuesta, Jose and Mesas, Francisco de Jorge and Vidosa, Fely Gonzalez and Mesas, Francisco de Jorge. The treatment of victims of crimes and offences in the Spanish system of justice

The authors maintain that Spanish law and criminal justice are primarily oriented toward determination of the offense and penal responsibility of the offender, not the interests of the victim. The victim does not have a significant status in Spanish criminal justice. Yet they note, as a first step, the emergence of some public offices to assist victims. With all of this in view, the authors examine certain aspects of the Spanish system with respect to victims: the criminal law; the procedural system; and the emerging offices for aid to victims. The section on these offices includes a brief history of them, and a sketch of the functioning of the office in Valencia and the criminal justice context there. As part of their examination, the authors present certain statistics on types of offenses, and the experiences of victims resulting from assistance they received. They conclude that efforts to address the needs and rights of victims are moving forward in Spain, but that much work remains to be done to increase the scope of victim assistance and integrate it into the criminal justice system.

Kittayarak, Kittipong. A Brief Outline of the Current Situation on the Protection of Victims of Crime in Thailand

Early in history, criminal law was essentially law for victims. Victims of crime were the center of the administration of criminal justice. Most criminal sanctions aimed at providing redress to the victims, typically in the forms of compensation and restitution. The concept of crime as a "private wrong" has been replaced by the emergence of the notion that crime is an act against the well being of the state and thus needs "public prosecution". The importance of the role of the victim of crime was limited to that of a "witness". Over the past few centuries, the defendant and the State evolved as the two parties with legal standing in criminal proceedings. The victims were virtually forgotten and became, in the words of Bard, “the party without institutionalized voice in the legal process." The changing paradigm during that period was based on the following premises: 1. A crime is primarily an offense against the government rather than a private wrong. 2. The government, because it acts for the good of the citizenry, cannot be held accountable for its mistakes or negligence in the administration of criminal justice. 3. Specially trained professional officers are better at controlling crime and seeing that justice is accomplished than the private citizens or victims of the offenses. 4. Victims are useful to the system as information sources and witnesses; their interests are not important to the system and could interfere with the efficient administration of justice. 5. Because of the great power of the state and the potential for abuse, persons accused or suspected of committing a crime need to be protected with an array of procedural rights and privileges. This “new paradigm‿ which has remained the mainstream thinking of the criminal justice systems around the world for a long time until the older ideas have been rekindled only recently by the movement for the protection of crime victims. (excerpt)

Sarei, Noel. Country Report: Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea has legislation policies, which are directed at the protection of victims of crime. The Papua New Guinea Constitution speaks of the Basic Rights of all people (Division 3. Basic Rights. Sections 32-56) but not specifically on the ‘victims of crimes’. The Papua New Guinea Department of Attorney General in its 2000 Policy on Community Corrections further made a commitment to protect the victims of crime in Papua New Guinea. The ten year plan – The National Law and Justice Policy and Plan of Action 2001-2010 entitled Towards Restorative Justice pursues very strongly the development of a Victim Support Policy. The Policy states: “Developing a Victim Support Policy promotes another goal of the law and Justice Policy. That goal is to bring the victims of crime and conflict back into the centre of the law and justice process. All too often, victims are either ignored or sidelined under the current system. A vital step towards restoring confidence and genuine fairness in law and justice processes is to recognise the injury suffered by victims and to support when appropriate. The aim of this policy is to evaluate and strengthen the existing support structures such as the women’s refuges; Police Sexual Offences Section; the parole and probation; Life Line, social workers at the hospitals; the churches; criminal compensation; the courts; and the non-government organizations who are taking the lead to provide assistance to the victims of crime. (excerpt)

Rock, Paul. Constructing Victims' Rights: The Home Office, New Labour, and Victims

This book by Paul Rock provides a detailed account of the world of criminal justice policy-making, of changing sensibilities and perspectives on criminal justice, and of people (government officials, politicians, non-governmental organizations, and practitioners’ representatives) collaborating in the field of victims’ interests. He shows how various critical events and public discourse, along with the actions of the New Labour government in England, came together in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the form of a Victims’ Bill of Rights, which later became the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill in 2003. This transformed the politics and formal identities of victims in England and Wales. Rock covers all of this in the following chapters: crime and victims at the turn of the century (late 1990s); the Home Office at the turn of the century; the organization and work of various government officials and committees with respect to victims; the victim as consumer; the victim and human rights; the victim and compensation and reparation; the vulnerable or intimated victim; the victim and race; and the consummation of a considerable variety of movements, actions, and changes in attitudes – both within government and in society – in the direction of certain policies and laws regarding victims’ needs and rights in the criminal justice system and society as a whole.

Fichtenberg, Marjean. What is Justice?

Restorative justice is, of course, about justice. While people often think victims of crime want vengeance, most victims say they just want justice to be done. The question then is what is justice. More particularly, the question is how a victim of crime defines justice. Marjean Fichtenberg observes that justice is something that happens to the offender in our current criminal justice system. What about the victim in this system? Is the criminal justice system’s pursuit of “justice� a satisfactory approach to justice for the victim? In Fichtenberg’s assessment, the answer is negative. Restorative justice theory, in contrast, offers a set of values conducive to healing for the victim, offender, and society. In this approach, the victim’s needs are taken seriously and placed at the center of the process of responding to the crime. In actual terms, not all restorative justice processes adequately include and assist victims of crime. Yet truly restorative responses do support and aid victims in meaningful and practical ways. This is justice from a victim’s perspective.

Graycar, Adam. New Research on Victims of Crime in Australia - Victims' Needs, Victims' Rights - An Australian Institute of Criminology Report

This document provides outlines of victim services in all Australian states and includes recommendations for their future direction (e.g. victim impact statements, improved compensation schemes, a greater emphasis on restorative justice principles)

Oxfordshire Youth Offending Team. Oxfordshire Youth Offending Team Policy on Work with Victims

The Oxfordshire Youth Offending Team (United Kingdom) was established in the late 1990s to put victims at the center of the criminal justice process. The approach in contacting and supporting victims of youth crime is to work with victims sensitively, taking account of their needs, rights, and wishes. This paper spells out in detail the policies on its work with victims. These stated policies cover the following: Youth Offending Team strategy; victims awareness; reparation and mediation; guidelines for practice; the youth court; interagency implications; and monitoring and evaluation.

Church Council on Justice and Corrections. Current Victim Initiatives for The Church Council

The Church Council on Justice and Corrections (CCJC) is a Canadian coalition of faith-based individuals and churches advocating for a more humane way to practice criminal justice. The CCJC has undertaken a number of initiatives that give prominence to victim-related issues. This paper reports on six of those initiatives: a report on the Collaborative Justice Project at a victims of crime conference in Ontario; production of reflection sheets on restorative justice; participation in a Living Justice conference on God’s justice in relation to the question of healing or retribution; the Collaborative Justice Project operating out of the Ottawa courthouse; a focus on victims’ stories at a CCJC annual meeting; and identification of benchmarks for satisfying justice.

Harvey, Wendy van Tongeren and Daylen, Judith. Nurturing Dignity and Respect in the Criminal Justice System

While being victimized by crime is not desirable, Wendy van Tongeren Harvey and Judith Daylen ask whether a person could be a victim of crime in the Canadian criminal justice system and complete the experience altered in a positive way. What would this look like? What would it involve in terms of relationships, competencies, perspectives, behaviors, emotions, intelligence, and the human spirit? Certainly some people have been victimized by crime, have gone through the criminal justice system, and have been altered in positive ways. They have come out as “thrivers� not merely as “survivors� or “copers.� In this context, Harvey and Daylen seek to encourage a dialogue that celebrates thriving in the wake of being a crime victim, and that holds out that possibility for others who face the challenge of crime victimization. They do this by exploring the criminal justice perspective on crime victimization, the criminal justice system itself, reforms to deal with crime victims better, and psychological perspectives on victimization.

Herman, Susan and Greenspan, Rosann and Dempsey, Karen and Johnson, Diane and Greenspan, Rosann and Weisburd, David and Dempsey, Karen and Ready, Justin and Greenspan, Rosann and Johnson, Diane and Ready, Justin and Farrell, Graham and Greenspan, Rosann and Dempsey, Karen and Johnson, Diane and Anderson, David R and Ready, Justin and Farrell, Graham and Greenspan, Rosann and Weisburd, David and Dempsey, Karen and Johnson, Diane and Anderson, David R. Bringing Victims Into Community Policing

The first section of the guide defines repeat victimization and discusses its significance within overall crime totals. It indicates how analysis of data collected from nontraditional as well as traditional sources can lead to a better understanding of the challenges of repeat victimization. How the effectiveness of the first response by police can be enhanced through the adoption of an analytic, problem solving approach that includes victims is also explained. Further, it discusses how the use of a graduated response, geared to the victim's level of risk, can prevent repeat victimization. The second section of the guide presents a model for a departmental policy for the prevention of repeat victimization. The model addresses the roles of first response, graduated response, victim assistance, data recording and analysis, dispatching and reporting systems, training, and performance evaluation. The third section of the guide presents an overview of the significance of the first response to crime in preventing revictimization. The concluding section of the guide is composed of three "first response" guides for the crimes of domestic violence, residential burglary, and auto theft. The guide for first response to domestic violence highlights the need for police officers to understand the nature of domestic violence and the prior history. The guide for residential burglary explains how to engage the cooperation of victims in reducing the risk of repeat victimization; and the guide for first response to auto theft discusses the kinds of questions police officers should ask victims in order to determine the nature of the theft incident and reduce the risk of repeat victimization. Abstracts courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Williams, Brian. Victims of Crime and Community Justice

Victims of crime do not benefit directly from criminal justice policies that diminish the rights of offenders and increase their penalties. Victims of Crimes and Community Justice lays bare the assumptions about victims and offenders that restrict efficient policy-making and proposes a more balanced approach that takes into account both the needs of the victim and the responsibilities of the offender. Brian Williams evaluates proposed solutions, including restorative justice and informal community justice, and draws on evidence and experiences from the UK and around the world to investigate which measures have proved effective and how criminal justice policies might be redressed. (Publisher's abstract).