Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

dissatisfaction and alienation from the criminal justice

system. Surveys of crime victims in a number of coun-

tries revealed complaints related to the lack of infor-

mation about the case as well as frustration due to the

lack of input into the proceedings. These findings pro-

voked campaigns by victims’ rights groups to bring

about changes in the criminal justice system.

In response to the victim movement, Western coun-

tries have passed legislation creating various victim

rights and have established a wide range of services

for victims of crime. Victims now have the right to

receive information about the status of the case in

which they are involved, and they also have the right

to apply for financial compensation and psychological

assistance. More recently, many jurisdictions have

provided victims with participatory rights throughout

the criminal process, beginning with the arrest of a

suspect and ending with the prisoner’s release from

prison. Although most rights and benefits that facili-

tate victim participation in justice have been generally

accepted, the right to actively participate in the judi-

cial process and to have a voice in proceedings has

proved controversial and continues to be the subject of

heated debate.

Emergence of Participatory

Rights for Crime Victims

Research and practice have shown that while some vic-

tims prefer to stay out of the criminal justice system,

many others wish to participate. The need to accord

victims participatory rights has been recognized by

many national committees established to study victims

in the criminal justice process (e.g., the President’s Task

Force on Victims of Crime, 1982, in the United States

and the report of the Standing Committee on Justice

and Human Rights, 1998, in Canada). Similar reports

have been published in other jurisdictions.

The international community has also recognized the

need to integrate victims into the criminal justice

process. In 1985, the United Nations Seventh Congress

on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of the

Offender adopted a declaration that required that vic-

tims be allowed to present their views and concerns at

appropriate stages of the criminal justice process.

Victims also enjoy significant rights in proceedings

before the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

That court hears cases involving the most serious crimes

committed against many hundreds of crime victims.

Many states in the United States have enacted vic-

tims’ bills of rights that vary in scope from mandating

that criminal justice officials simply show respect

toward victims, to establishing a victim’s right to be pre-

sent and heard, to allowing victims to sit at the prosecu-

tor’s table during trial. In several states, victims’ rights

are achieved by specific statute, but a number of states

have adopted constitutional amendments to give vic-

tims’ rights greater permanence and visibility. The

majority of the states also allow for victim participation

in sentencing and parole hearings. The states also pro-

vide for victim participation in plea bargaining.

However, the extent to which victims are allowed to par-

ticipate in plea discussions varies widely, with no state

providing victims with a veto over plea agreements.

Reforms addressing the circumstances in which vic-

tims are afraid or reluctant to provide testimony or input

into proceedings (such as domestic violence cases) have

also been adopted. These laws (or statutory amend-

ments) require the police to make arrests regardless of

whether the victim signs the complaint. Similarly, pros-

ecutors are allowed to proceed with a case even if the

victim refuses to cooperate (this is known as a “no-

drop” policy). Mandatory arrest laws and no-drop pros-

ecutorial policies recognize that victims of domestic

violence are especially vulnerable to retaliation from the

perpetrator if they press charges. These laws therefore

remove this decision from victims. Mandatory charging

and prosecuting policies thus create a potential conflict

with the principal goal of victims’ advocates: to give

victims a say in important criminal justice decisions that

affect their lives. Accordingly, some battered women’s

advocates and feminist scholars have criticized the

mandatory element of these policies on the grounds that

they further disempower the crime victim.

Victim Impact Statements

at Sentencing

Sentencing attracts more interest than any other stage

of the criminal process. Victims look toward a sentenc-

ing court to vindicate their suffering and to mark the

crime by imposing an appropriate penalty on the con-

victed offender. It is therefore not surprising that it is at

the stage of sentencing that victims are most interested

in providing input. Of all the participatory reforms, vic-

tim input into sentencing decisions, or victim’s right to

submit victim impact statements (VIS), have attracted

the most opposition.

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