Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Victims and the Criminal Trial Process

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Victims and the Criminal Trial

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology ((PSVV))

Abstract

The twenty-first century criminal trial is increasingly modified to benefit the needs of crime victims. Victims are increasingly participating in all phases of the criminal trial, with new substantive and procedural rights, many of which may be enforced against the state or defendant. This movement to enforceable rights has been controversial, and evidences a contested terrain between lawyers, defendants, policy-makers, and even victims themselves. By elaborating upon the various ways in which victims are appropriately placed in the modern criminal trial process, this book demonstrates how victims are significantly connected to and even constitutive of the modern adversarial criminal trial. In order to demonstrate the connectedness of the victim to the modern trial, all processes that seek to place the victim as a significantly determinative and even constitutive agent of justice will be considered. The role of the victim, and the rights and powers afforded to them, will therefore be considered in the context of pre-trial processes through to trial, sentencing, and corrections, within the primary context of the Western adversarial trial. Alternative pathways will also be considered, as will international law and procedure, in addition to extra-curial or adjunctive rights provided by international instruments, ratified declarations of rights, or executive order. The twenty-first century criminal trial is increasingly reconceived in form and substance, yet victims remain controversial and contested participants of justice, despite being increasingly connected to the criminal trial.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    In certain jurisdictions, modification of the trial process and the law of evidence concerning sex offences began in the late 1970s. However, it was not until the late 1990s and early 2000s that such rights and protections became comprehensive for sex offences victims, and then universalised as an entitlement to all vulnerable victims and witnesses.

  2. 2.

    Section 32 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 (UK) creates the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime. The section prescribes who may be included in the Victims’ Code and who is absolved of liability or duty accordingly: ‘(1) The Secretary of State must issue a code of practice as to the services to be provided to a victim of criminal conduct by persons appearing to him to have functions relating to: (a) victims of criminal conduct, or (b) any aspect of the criminal justice system. (2) The code may restrict the application of its provisions to: (a) specified descriptions of victims; (b) victims of specified offences or descriptions of conduct; (c) specified persons or descriptions of persons appearing to the Secretary of State to have functions of the kind mentioned in subsection (1). (3) The code may include provision requiring or permitting the services which are to be provided to a victim to be provided to one or more others: (a) instead of the victim (e.g., where the victim has died); (b) as well as the victim. (4) The code may make different provision for different purposes, including different provision for: (a) different descriptions of victims; (b) persons who have different functions or descriptions of functions; (c) different areas. (5) The code may not require anything to be done by: (a) a person acting in a judicial capacity; (b) a person acting in the discharge of a function of a member of the Crown Prosecution Service which involves the exercise of a discretion. (6) In determining whether a person is a victim of criminal conduct for the purposes of this section, it is immaterial that no person has been charged with or convicted of an offence in respect of the conduct. (7) In this section: ‘criminal conduct’ means conduct constituting an offence; ‘specified’ means specified in the code.’

  3. 3.

    See Chap. 8 for a discussion of extra-curial rights and powers for victims of crime.

  4. 4.

    Enforceable rights are discussed throughout this book but consultative rights in pre-trial processes are principally discussed in Chap. 2.

  5. 5.

    Also see Perez v France (2004) ECHR 47287/99, at par [68].

References

  • Ashworth, A., & Zedner, L. (2014). Preventative justice. Oxon: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bassiouni, M. C. (1999). Negotiating the treaty of Rome on the establishment of the International Criminal Court. Cornell International Law Journal, 32(3), 443–469.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bassiouni, M. C. (2006). International recognition of victims’ rights. Human Rights Law Review, 6(2), 203–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger v France (2002) ECHR 48221/99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bottoms, A., & Roberts, J. V. (Eds.). (2010). Hearing the victim: Adversarial justice, crime victims and the state. Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christie, N. (1977). Conflicts as property. British Journal of Criminology, 17(1), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christie, N. (1986). Ideal victim. In E. A. Fattah (Ed.), From crime policy to victim policy: Reorienting the justice system (pp. 17–30). New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Civil Claims Alien Tort Claims Act (28 USC § 1350).

    Google Scholar 

  • Criminal Procedure Code for Kosovo 2012 (Criminal No. 04/L-123).

    Google Scholar 

  • Doak, J. (2008). Victim rights, human rights and criminal justice. Oxford: Hart Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doak, J., Henham, R., & Mitchell, B. (2009). Victims and the sentencing process: Developing participatory rights? Legal Studies, 29(4), 651–677.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolowitz, D. P., & Marsh, D. (2002). Learning from abroad: The role of policy transfer in contemporary policy-making. Governance, 13(1), 5–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elias, R. (1985). Transcending our social reality of victimization: Toward a new victimology of human rights. Victimology: An International Journal, 10(1/4), 6–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández de Casadevante Romani, C. (2012). International law of victims. Heidelberg/New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Frulli, M. (2000). The Special Court for Sierra Leone: Some preliminary comments. European Journal of International Law, 11(4), 857–869.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garkawe, S. (2004). Revisiting the scope of victimology: How broad a discipline should it be? International Review of Victimology, 11(2/3), 275–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geneva Conventions. (1864–1949). Geneva convention for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armed forces in the field of 12 August 1949, 6 UST 3114, TIAS No. 3362, 75 UNTS 31; Geneva convention for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of armed forces at sea of 12 August 1949, 6 UST 3217, TIAS. No. 3363, 75 UNTS 85; Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of

    Google Scholar 

  • Groenhuijsen, M. (2014). The development of international policy in relation to victims of crime. International Review of Victimology, 20(1), 31–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, M. (2009). Victims of crime: Policy and practice in criminal justice. Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, M. (2010). Victims and policy making: A comparative perspective. Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hehir, A. (2010). Introduction: Kosovo and the international community. In A. Hehir (Ed.), Kosovo, intervention and state building: The international community and the transition to independence (pp. 1–17). Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Husak, D. (2008). Overcriminalization: The limits of criminal law. Oxon: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, J. (2009). Finding the best epistemic fit for international criminal tribunals: Beyond the adversarial-inquisitorial dichotomy. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 7(1), 17–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, S. T. (2009). Neither victims nor executioners: The dilemma of victim participation and the defendant’s right to a fair trial at the International Criminal Court. ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law, 16(2), 489–496.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kearon, T., & Godfrey, B. S. (2007). Setting the scene: A question of history. In S. Walklate (Ed.), Handbook of victims and victimology (pp. 17–36). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Killean, R. (2015). An incomplete narrative: Prosecuting sexual violence crimes at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 13(2), 331–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirchhoff, G. F. (2010). History and a theoretical structure of victimology. In S. G. Shoham, P. Knepper, & M. Kett (Eds.), International handbook of victimology (pp. 95–123). Boca Raton: CRC Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Knoops, G.-J. (2014). An introduction to the law of international criminal tribunals: A comparative study. Leiden: Brill, Nijhoff.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kury, H., & Kichling, M. (2011). Accessory prosecution in Germany: Legislation and implementation. In E. Erez, M. Kilchling, & J.-A. Wemmers (Eds.), Therapeutic jurisprudence and victim participation in justice: International perspectives (pp. 41–66). Durham: Carolina Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lai, B. (2005). The Alien Tort Claims Act: Temporary stopgap measure or permanent remedy. Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business, 26(1), 139–165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langbein, J. (1978). The criminal trial before the lawyers. University of Chicago Law Review, 45(2), 263–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langbein, J. (2002). The origins of adversary criminal trial. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McFarlane, M. A., & Canton, R. (Eds.). (2014). Policy transfer in criminal justice: Crossing cultures, breaking barriers. Houndmills, Basingstoke/Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menéndez, P., Weatherburn, D., Kypri, K., & Fitzgerald, J. (2015). Lockouts and last drinks: The impact of the January 2014 liquor licence reforms on assaults in NSW, Australia. Crime and Justice Bulletin, 183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moffett, M. (2014). Justice for victims before the International Criminal Court. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ochoa, J. C. (2013). The rights of victims in criminal justice proceedings for serious human rights violations. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Perez v France (2004) ECHR 47287/99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reiger, C., & Wierda, M. (2006). The serious crimes process in Timor-Leste: In retrospect. New York: International Center for Transitional Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roach, K. (1999a). Four models of the criminal process. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 89(2), 671–716.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Safferling, C. (2011). The role of the victim in the criminal process – A paradigm shift in National German and International Law? International Criminal Law Review, 11(2), 183–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schafer, S. (1968). The victim and his criminal: A study of functional responsibility. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sebba, L. (1982). The victim’s role in the penal process: A theoretical orientation. American Journal of Comparative Law, 30(2), 217–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sebba, L., & Berenblum, T. (2014). Victimology and the sociology of new disciplines: A research agenda. International Review of Victimology, 20(1), 7–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shelton, D. (1994). The jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. American University International Law Review, 10(1), 333–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Summers, S. (2007). Fair trials: The European criminal procedural tradition and the European Court of Human Rights. Oxford: Hart Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (‘UNTAET’). (2000a). Regulation No. 2000/11 on the organization of courts in East Timor, 6 March 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (‘UNTAET’). (2000b). Regulation No. 2000/15 on the establishment of panels with exclusive jurisdiction over serious criminal offences, 6 June 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Dijk, J. (1988). Ideological trends within the victims movement: An international perspective. In M. Maguire & C. Pointing (Eds.), Victims of crime: A new deal? (pp. 115–126). Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Dijk, J. (2009). Free the victim: A critique of the western conception of victimhood. International Review of Victimology, 16(1), 1–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • War Crimes Research Office. (2007). Victim participation before the International Criminal Court. International Criminal Court Legal Analysis and Education Project, American University, Washington College of Law.

    Google Scholar 

  • War Crimes Research Office. (2009). Victim participation at the case stage of proceedings. International Criminal Court Legal Analysis and Education Project, American University, Washington College of Law.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wemmers, J-A. (2009). Where do they belong? Giving victims a place in the criminal justice process. Criminal Law Forum, 20(4), 395–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Law, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Tyrone Kirchengast

Authors
  1. Tyrone Kirchengast
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2016 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kirchengast, T. (2016). Victims and the Criminal Trial Process. In: Victims and the Criminal Trial. Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51000-6_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51000-6_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-50999-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51000-6

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation