Abstract
Victim’s access to compensation was initially justified to support the healing of the victims of crime following the state’s failure to apprehend crime and secure the peace. Payments to victims initially accompanied sentencing proceedings as a separate civil claim, requested by the prosecution or occasionally, victims themselves. Claims were determined on the basis of the facts in evidence before the court at trial or in sentencing. This meant that only where matters were reported to police and proceeded with by the prosecution all the way to sentencing would a claim for compensation be possible. The terminology that comprised initial compensation schemes is also significant. Although the term ‘victim compensation’ is used widely to describe the offering of awards and ex gratia payments to victims, the initial reference to criminal injuries compensation, a term still used in the UK, refers to the absence of the victim and an acknowledgment of the injury, or the consequence of the criminal conduct, that constitutes the injury as a manifestation of criminal harm.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Also see Ministry of Justice (2011) Breaking the Cycle: Government Response, UK Government.
- 2.
Paul Lynch, Hansard, Legislative Assembly, NSW Parliament, 20527: ‘The Opposition opposes this Bill. It is bad in principle and in practice. It represents the triumph of unfeeling Treasury bureaucrats over the real and all too human needs of victims of crime.’
- 3.
See Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (UK) s 130(3): ‘A court shall give reasons, on passing sentence, if it does not make a compensation order in a case where this section empowers it to do so’; Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act 1988 (SA) s 53(2A) ‘…the court must, if it does not make an order for compensation, give its reasons for not doing so.’
- 4.
New Zealand also provides similar restrictions to compensation upon sentencing under the Sentencing Act 2002 (NZ) s 12(1), ‘If a court is lawfully entitled under Part 2 to impose a sentence or order of reparation, it must impose it unless it is satisfied that the sentence or order would result in undue hardship for the offender or the dependants of the offender, or that any other special circumstances would make it inappropriate.’
- 5.
See Rule 16 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence ICC: ‘In relation to victims, the Registrar shall be responsible for the performance of the following functions in accordance with the Statute and these Rules: (a) Providing notice or notification to victims or their legal representatives; (b) Assisting them in obtaining legal advice and organizing their legal representation, and providing their legal representatives with adequate support, assistance and information, including such facilities as may be necessary for the direct performance of their duty, for the purpose of protecting their rights during all stages of the proceedings in accordance with rules 89 to 91; (c) Assisting them in participating in the different phases of the proceedings in accordance with rules 89 to 91; (d) Taking gender-sensitive measures to facilitate the participation of victims of sexual violence at all stages of the proceedings.’
References
Blake v Galloway (2004) 3 All ER 315.
Brooks v Police (2000) SASC 66.
CICA v First-tier Tribunal and CP (CIC) (2013) UKUT 0638.
de Greiff, P. (2006). Justice and reparations. In P. de Greiff (Ed.), The handbook of reparations (pp. 451–477). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Green, D., & Diaz, N. (2007). Predictors of emotional stress in crime victims: Implications for treatment. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 7(3), 194–205.
Home Office. (2005). Rebuilding lives: Supporting victims of crime. Criminal Justice System, Home Office, UK Government.
Keller, L. (2007). Seeking justice at the International Criminal Court: Victim’s reparations. Thomas Jefferson Law Review, 29(2), 189–218.
McCarthy, C. (2012). Reparations and victim support in the international criminal court. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McEwin, A. (2014). Letter to the Honourable Brad Hazzard MP, Attorney General of NSW, First 12 Months of Victims Rights and Support Act 2013, 16 June 2014.
Miers, D. (2014a). Compensating deserving victims of violent crime: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012. Legal Studies, 34(2), 242–278.
Miers, D. (2014b). Offender and state compensation for victims of crime: Two decades of development and change. International Review of Victimology, 20(1), 145–168.
Mile v Police (2007) SASC 156.
Ministry of Justice. (2012a). The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012. UK Government.
Ministry of Justice. (2012b). Getting it right for victims and witness. UK Government, Consultation Paper CP3/2012, January 2012.
Mohid Jawad v The Queen (2013) EWCA Crim 644.
Paull v Police (2015) SASC 25.
Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (UK).
PricewaterhouseCoopers (‘PwC’). (2012). NSW Department of Attorney General and Justice: Review of the Victims Compensation Fund, PwC Australia, 12 July 2012.
Prosecutor v Lubanga (ICC-01/04-01/06-2904, 7 August 2012, Decision establishing the principles and procedures to be applied to reparations).
R (JC) v First-tier Tribunal Criminal Injuries Compensation: Reasons (2010) UKUT 396 (AAC).
R (RW) v First-Tier Tribunal (CIC) (2012) UKUT 280 (AAC).
R v Brown (1994) 1 AC 212.
R v Konzani (2005) All ER (D) 292.
Shapland, J., & Hall, M. (2007). What do we know about the effects of crime on victims? International Review of Victimology, 14(2), 175–217.
Sharpe, S. (2007). The idea of reparation. In G. Johnstone & D. Van Ness (Eds.), Handbook of restorative justice (pp. 24–40). Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kirchengast, T. (2016). Compensation and Victim Assistance. 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_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51000-6_7
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)