Abstract
The responses of the criminal justice system to victimisation and in particular the operation of the criminal trial retain an enormously symbolic position in the public’s consciousness around criminal victimisation (Kirchengast, Victims and the Criminal Trial. London: Palgrave, 2016). From a cultural perspective then the criminal justice process has enormous significance. The trial itself is the most publicised component of the criminal justice process, and we know the majority of people still base much of their opinion of the justice system on knowledge obtained though media portrayals of it: both fictional and non-fictional accounts (Dowler, Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 10:109–126, 2003). This chapter will turn its attention to the criminal justice process itself, offering an evaluation of substantive changes made to that system since the coming to power of the 2010 coalition government. In so doing, the chapter will highlight the extent to which reforms made in the criminal justice process might reflect the cultural and political contexts outlined in Chaps. 1, 2 and 3.
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Notes
- 1.
On which, see Chap. 1 of this volume.
- 2.
See p. 22 of this volume.
- 3.
See R v Bree [2007] EWCA Crim 804.
- 4.
See p. 249 of this volume.
- 5.
Hansard 30th November 2010. Available at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/debates/GetDebateAsText/10113037000010 (accessed 30.05.17).
- 6.
[2011] EWCA Crim 1608.
- 7.
See Criminal Practice Directions 2015 [2015] EWCA Crim 1567.
- 8.
[2014] EWCA Crim 2064.
- 9.
This announcement lead to a public disagreement between the Ministry of Justice and the Lord Chief Justice, discussed on p. 254 of this volume.
- 10.
Recalling that Evans had been convicted in the original trial but the exclusion of this evidence in those proceedings had been successfully challenged in the Court of Appeal, which ordered a retrial.
- 11.
As noted on p. 75, Waxman would soon afterwards be appointed the first Victims Commissioner for London in June 2017.
- 12.
Hayden J and Russell J.
- 13.
Re A (a minor) (fact finding; unrepresented party) [2017] EWHC 1195 (Fam).
- 14.
See p. 69 of this volume.
- 15.
See p. 158 of this volume.
- 16.
Albeit I noted in Chap. 2 that Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss had failed to mention victims in her commencement address in July 2016.
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Hall, M. (2017). Victims and the Criminal Justice Process. In: Victims of Crime. Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64589-6_4
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