NCJ Number
231066
Date Published
2010
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines the current status and future of victims of crime within the criminal justice system of the United Kingdom.
Abstract
The first decade of the 21st century appears to be a significant time for victims of crime in the United Kingdom, from the implementation of the Code of Practice for Victims of crime, which provides victims with statutory rights and a means of redress if those rights are not upheld, the Witness Care Units, to the now independent domestic violence advocates, independent sexual assault advocates, and 22 Sexual Assault Referral Centers (SARCs) in England and Wales. There is no doubt that very significant advances have been made in improving the position of victims and witnesses. The main question in this essay is the extent to which these developments are motivated by a desire to meet the needs of victims and witnesses or whether they are designed to achieve other, more traditional, criminal justice objectives. The essay examines some of the difficulties inherent in trying to address these issues and reflect on the questions that policymakers may need to tackle in determining the direction in which victims' policies and services will develop in the future. Notes and references