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Victims’ Rights in the Criminal Justice System

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Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Overview

The concept of victims’ rights has come to bear considerable influence on the formation of criminal justice policy on both the domestic and international platforms. While commentators have long accepted the desirability of rights for accused persons, it is only in more recent times that a discourse concerning the rights of victims has emerged. Prior to exploring the evolution and extent of such rights, it is worth noting at the outset that the tendency of policymakers and politicians to adopt language couched in the terminology of victims rights’ often departs from the notion of a legal right, in the sense that it can be enforced through the justice system. In other words, while certain benefits or dispensations may be framed as rights on paper, they frequently lack any enforcement mechanism and may not be considered binding on courts or other public authorities.

History and Development

There are diverse and varied accounts which document the ascendancy of victims’ rights...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Durham Law School, Durham University, 50 North Bailey, Durham, UK

    Jonathan Doak

Authors
  1. Jonathan Doak
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan Doak .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gerben Bruinsma

  2. VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gerben Bruinsma

  3. Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    David Weisburd

  4. Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel

    David Weisburd

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Doak, J. (2014). Victims’ Rights in the Criminal Justice System. In: Bruinsma, G., Weisburd, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_325

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_325

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5689-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5690-2

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law

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