Crime Victim
and Witness Rights
When
the victims movement was founded over
twenty years ago, the idea of legal rights
for victims of crime was a distant ring
of hope for those who had suffered the
trauma of victimization. Its early sound
was a simple statement of seven principles,
first articulated in 1980.
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Victims
and witnesses have a right to protection
from intimidation and harm.
-
Victims
and witnesses have a right to be informed
concerning the criminal justice process.
-
Victims
and witnesses have a right to reparations.
-
Victims
and witnesses have a right to preservation
of property and employment.
-
Victims
and witnesses have a right to due
process in criminal court proceedings.
-
Victims
and witnesses have a right to be treated
with dignity and compassion.
-
Victims
and witnesses have a right to counsel.
Determined
victims and their advocates continue to
fight for victim rights. Since 1980, every
state has sought to translate these principles
into policies and practice. Thirty-two
states have passed constitutional
amendments that address one or more
basic rights.
-
The
federal government enacted the Victim
and Witness Protection Act of 1982,
the Victims of Crime Act of 1984,
the Victims Rights and Restitution
Act, the Child Victims' Bill of Rights
in 1990, and the Victim Right Clarification
Act of 1997.
-
In
1985, the United Nations adopted a
Declaration on Basic Principles of
Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse
of Power. The federal government enacted
the Violence Against Women Act of
1994 as part of a comprehensive bill
affecting victims in many ways.
The
campaign for "victim justice" is not yet
completed. Principles of justice must
be further defined. Laws must be implemented
and enforced. Rights must have remedies:
1.
Protection for victims, witnesses, and
communities, such as:
- Rights
to privacy.
- Effective
enforcement of protection orders.
- Safety
and security in criminal justice processes.
- Establishment
of safe havens and peace zones.
- Special
protections for highly vulnerable
populations.
- Violence
prevention.
2.
Information, notification, and consultations
on case status, decision-making, and implementation
of decisions:
- These
rights should be applied and implemented
in all criminal justice proceedings,
including those in juvenile, military,
educational, and administrative systems.
- Effective
remedies should be available should
rights fail to be enforced.
3.
Participation through a voice, not a veto,
by victims, witnesses, and communities.
Participation is enhanced through:
- Effective
public education.
- Community
policing, community prosecution, community
courts, and community corrections.
- Community
problem-solving and violence prevention.
- Effective
representation in the criminal justice
process.
4.
Reparations to the injured involving:
- Full
restitution ordered to be paid by
the offender to all identifiable victims.
- Restitution
to the community rendered through
service or money.
- Restorative
compensation by the state to the victim.
- Recoveries
for damages in civil actions as a
supplement or alternative to criminal
restitution.
5.
Preservation of property and employment
through innovative practices such as:
- Preserving
rights of victims to stay in their
homes and communities while evicting
or exiling their offenders.
- Education
and employment services for victims
who, because of the crime, cannot
continue in their past careers.
- Emergency
financial aid, and intercession with
creditors and landlords.
- Prompt
property return or replacement.
6.
Due process for victims and communities
through:
- Ensuring
rights to the victim parallel to those
of the accused in the criminal justice
processes as well as in juvenile,
military, educational, and administrative
proceedings.
- Returning
justice to its community origins.
- Federal
and state law should continue to set
the definitions and boundaries of
criminal law and procedures, but communities
should be given significant responsibility
for enforcing and monitoring the laws.
7.
Treatment of victims with dignity and
compassion throughout the nation and the
world by:
- Training
and education for criminal justice
professionals in all aspects of victim
issues and victim rights.
- Adequately
funded victim assistance programs
in every jurisdiction so that victims
are never more than a telephone call
away from help.
- Increasing
public understanding of the impact
of victimization and appropriate responses
through educational curricula, as
well as mandatory continuing education
courses for lawyers, public safety
officers, health and mental health
professional, the clergy, and others
who respond to victims.
- Establishing
ethics and standards for quality assistance
by programs and individuals serving
victims.
- Eliciting
responsibility and remorse from offenders,
and educating offenders on the impact
of crime on its victims.
- Appropriately
responding to the needs and concerns
of diverse population groups.
- Preventing
future violence.
And
in the end, all of these victim rights
must be recognized as fundamental to American
citizenship by express recognition in
the United
States Constitution.
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