Victims and Consensual Proceedings Do Victims Have a Right to Tell Their Stories in Criminal Proceedings?

Abstract

This paper addresses whether there is a cross-border opinio iuris that victims have a right to tell their stories in criminal proceedings. Over the last few decades, the rights of victims have been strengthened in criminal proceedings. But there is only little discussion as to whether they have a right to tell their stories even in consensual proceedings, which aim to accelerate criminal proceedings and therefore place some restrictions on the rights of the parties -- and not only the rights of the accused, but also the rights of the victims if they are regarded as a party to such proceedings at all. Therefore, the relevant legal frameworks of Switzerland, Germany, the United States of America and that of the International Criminal Court will be presented. Moreover, the issue of which rights are granted to the victims in these proceedings will be explored and if a general consensus on the rights of victims in such proceedings can be reached.