Victims In Criminal Proceedings Research Articles

PROPOSING RESTORATIVE JUSTICE MODELS AS ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO ADDRESSING CRIMINAL MATTERS: A CASE STUDY OF JUDICIAL SYSTEMS IN CIVIL AND COMMON LAW COUNTRIES

Background: In recent years, restorative justice has emerged as a mechanism to enhance the involvement of victims in criminal proceedings. Its primary objective is to repair the damage caused by the offence, acknowledging it as a genuine injury in need of healing. While criminal proceedings might vary across jurisdictions based on fundamental principles of human rights, the broader aim is to offer a more comprehensive response to crime, aiming not only to punish but also to reform offenders and reduce future criminal behaviour. Methods: This qualitative study employed a descriptive, analytical method, utilising case studies and comparative analysis to explore restorative justice models in established judicial systems and their applicability to unestablished framework countries. By analysing and synchronising secondary materials, the research aimed to provide in-depth insights into successful practices and potential adaptations. Results and conclusions: The results reveal that several restorative justice models have been developed all over the world to align with the legal, socio-political, and cultural contexts of different regions and jurisdictions, such as Canada, New Zealand, and Norway. Despite the variety of restorative justice models, this exploratory study scrutinised four non-adversarial decision-making models: victim-offender mediation, community reparative boards, family group conferencing, and circle sentencing. These four models illustrate an alternative approach to community involvement in crime response, emphasising the diversity and shared themes of community engagement in sanctioning processes. The results offer resourceful guidelines for unestablished judicial systems like Vietnam to choose models best suited to specific needs.

형사절차에서 범죄피해자 지위의 재정립

This paper begins with the question of why the participation of crime victims is necessary in criminal proceedings. Is a procedure that excludes the victim fair? Does the criminal responsibility borne by the defendant realize justice? To answer these questions, a paradigm shift and a reinterpretation of the position of crime victims are needed. First, the paper addresses the fundamental question of why it is essential to find the position of crime victims in criminal proceedings. In the process of answering this question, the concept of restorative justice is introduced. Historically, the legitimacy of state punishment was established by excluding private vengeance. Therefore, a mechanism focused on resolving issues between the parties might be seen as a regression to the era of revenge, posing a potential threat to the carefully constructed criminal justice system. This perspective has led to distortions in the understanding of restorative justice. The paper seeks to correct these distortions by introducing the basic principles necessary for applying restorative justice within the judicial sphere. Finally, it returns to the initial question, finding an answer to why the participation of victims in criminal procedures is essential. It emphasizes the need to consider the various perspectives and positions of those affected by the crime, recognizing the impact on their lives. The paper suggests that we seek answers together regarding the scope of criminal law and the realization of justice.

The impact of the jurisprudential interpretation emanating from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and its application in local courts in Mexico

The jurisdictional decisión when resolving specific cases often exceed the content of the spirit of the law itself. of the law itself. Or, the scope that the legislator intended to give to the law may be limited. to give to it. The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, by means of its interprets what should prevail, and such interpretation is mandatory for local courts. such interpretation is mandatory for local courts. This is the case with the judgment in Amparo en Revisión 2666/2020, which resolves the unconstitutionality of the unconstitutionality related to the payment of the reparation of damages resulting from a crime and that crime and which is a right of the victims in criminal proceedings. Now then, justifies its analysis, derived from the fact that this interpretation will be applied in matters resolved on criminal matters resolved in criminal matters in local Courts, since the National Code of Criminalthe National Code of Criminal Procedures is applicable in all the courts of the country.

Legal mechanisms for gambling addiction protection: analysis of an emerging regulatory model in Ukraine

The purpose of this article is to analyze the legislation of Ukraine on the protection of gambling players from the formation of gambling addiction, to identify ways and means of protection, to evaluate their effectiveness and to formulate proposals for improving (strengthening) the protection of the rights of gambling players. The research used general scientific and special scientific methods of scientific knowledge. In particular, the dialectical method of learning the phenomena of the surrounding reality, comparative-legal, systemic-structural, methods of logic (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, analogy). Many prevention measures have already been implemented in Ukraine. In addition, the player is protected by the right to receive free psychosocial assistance in the event of problems with gambling and free medical assistance in the event of a diagnosis of gambling addiction. The state also provides free socio-psychological rehabilitation of players during and after treatment for gaming addiction. The disadvantage is the bringing of the player to administrative responsibility for participating in illegal gambling and the impossibility of recognizing him as a victim in criminal proceedings to compensate for the damage caused by the crime (engagement in the gambling business).

Principles of the victim’s representation in criminal proceedings

Based on the analysis of the provisions of criminal procedure legislation, provisions of international legal treaties, and European Union law, and on the basis of generalisation of theoretical positions of scholars, and also taking into account the proven experience of certain European States, it has been substantiated that the principle of victim representation is one of the fundamental principles of criminal proceedings. It has been proved that representation of victims in criminal proceedings is an indispensable guarantee of the principle of equality before law and court, access to justice and binding nature of court decisions, competitiveness of the parties and freedom to present their evidence to court and to prove their convincing nature before the court, etc. It has been determined that on the way to European integration, Ukraine may need to revise certain provisions of the institute of victim representation in criminal proceedings, in particular, to determine the grounds for mandatory free-of-charge participation of a victim’s representative, at least in some categories of cases. It has been argued that victim representation should be carried out in compliance with the general principles of criminal proceedings, as well as the principles of: voluntariness; legality; competence; initiative; cooperation and effective communication with other participants to criminal proceedings. It is suggested that these provisions should be used in further scientific research as a basis for reforming criminal procedure law in the context of introducing proven foreign practices into the victim representation activities. It has been determined that the prospects for further research should include the mechanisms for implementing international standards of victim representation, problematic aspects of victim representation in criminal proceedings, and the principles of representation of a witness, a civil plaintiff, and a civil defendant.

The State Protection of the Rights of the Victim in Criminal Proceedings

The article is devoted to the study of the issue of providing state protection to the victim and restoring his violated rights and legitimate interests . Having made a comparison with the legal position of the suspect and the accused, the author notes that the victim is in an unequal position in relation to him: although the criminal procedure legislation of the Russian Federation regulates the possibility of the victim exercising his rights, but guarantees of their observance (and restoration of lost) the law does not provide for the state; if the suspect and the accused have a defender for these purposes (including one provided free of charge), then the victim does not have such a “trustee” . Such an incorrect approach initially led to an imbalance in criminal proceedings and violation of the rights and legitimate interests of the victim .The object of this study is the social relations that arose between the victim and the State as a result of the commission of a crime by the perpetrator . The subject of the study is the norms of criminal procedure legislation regulating the legal status of the victim in criminal proceedings, as well as other norms affecting criminal proceedings . The author used the comparative legal method as the main methods of scientific research, as well as the method of analyzing the norms of criminal procedure legislation .The author of the article considers it expedient to empower the prosecutor to ensure state protection of the rights of the victim and proposes to introduce a new Article 16 .1 into Chapter 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, which enshrines the principle of ensuring the right to state protection of the rights of the victim by analogy with Article 16 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation . In addition, the author describes in detail the legal mechanism for early compensation by the State to the victim of damage caused by the crime .

Representation of a Minor Victim in Criminal Proceedings: Analysis of Federal and Regional (Stavropol) Legislation

Introduction. The current Russian Criminal Procedure Law provides for the institution of his representation to protect the rights and legitimate interests of a minor victim in criminal proceedings. This article is devoted to the analysis of federal and regional legislation providing for general and additional measures aimed at protecting the rights of minors by victims. Theoretical Basis. Methods. The theoretical basis of the study was the scientific works of domestic and foreign authors devoted to the representation of the legitimate interests of a minor victim in criminal proceedings, in particular, providing him with free qualified legal assistance. The use of the formal legal method of research allowed us to identify the features of the legal regulation of the entry into criminal proceedings of the representatives of the minor victim. Results. An overview of the most significant issues for law enforcement related to the provision of a representative-lawyer to an imperfect victim, including on a gratuitous basis, is presented. In particular, the differences, positive and negative sides of the regulatory regulation of the procedure for ensuring the participation of a representative-lawyer of a minor victim under the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and the Stavropol Territory Law “On additional guarantees for the protection of the rights of minors recognized as victims in criminal proceedings” dated November 11, 2010 No. 94-kz. Discussion and Conclusion. The participation of a legal representative and a representative – a relative or representative – of another person to protect the rights and legitimate interests of a minor victim seems to be inadequate. The proper realization of everyone’s right to receive qualified legal assistance requires ensuring the participation of a representative-lawyer in the interests of a minor victim. It is proposed to legislate the participation of a lawyer as a representative of a minor victim as a case of mandatory participation in the criminal process of a representative-lawyer.

Legal Protection for Women in Criminal Proceedings: A Socio-Legal Review

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="388"><p class="TableParagraph"><em>Women often become victims of crimes, especially sexual crimes and domestic violence, in legal proceedings, but the legal protection stipulated in laws and regulations is still considered inadequate and many women still experience discrimination and injustice. The purpose of this study is to analyze the legal protection of women victims in criminal justice proceedings in Indonesia from a socio-legal perspective in order to identify the socio-cultural-structural barriers that cause the weakness of such protection. This study uses an empirical legal research method with a sociological legal approach to analyze the application of regulations on protecting women victims in criminal proceedings, with primary data obtained from field studies and interviews which are then analyzed qualitatively. The results show that nomatively, regulations on protecting women victims are adequate, but in practice they are heavily influenced by patriarchal socio-cultural factors and negative stigma against women victims which affect the attitude of law enforcement officials, resulting in many victims experiencing discrimination and injustice. The socio-cultural-structural barriers include negative stigma and discriminatory treatment of victims, patriarchal culture that subordinates women, lack of psychosocial and legal support for victims, and limited access to justice for marginalized women victims. At the structural level there are also problems of low gender capacity of law enforcement officials, lack of NGO advocacy, and legal and judicial systems that are not yet victim-friendly.</em><strong></strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table>

The use of video and audio recordings provided by victims of domestic violence as evidence

The relevance of the study lies in the urgent need to develop scientifically grounded and practically applicable criteria for the admissibility of using secret audio and video recordings made by victims in criminal proceedings regarding domestic violence. The purpose of the study is to establish whether the information contained in secret audio and video recordings made by victims can be used as evidence in criminal proceedings regarding domestic violence. The main research methods are systemic, analysis and synthesis, historical, heuristic, formal-legal methods. The issues of providing recordings by victims, witnesses, and other persons for criminal investigation purposes; general criteria for restricting the right to privacy in criminal proceedings regarding domestic violence; problems of evidence presentation by victims and applicants; issues of documenting domestic violence facts; the issue of admissibility of documentation are investigated. It is proved that aspects of the legality test for limiting the offenderʼs right to privacy in cases of conducting criminal proceedings regarding domestic violence may involve inquiries concerning the importance of evidence gathered through covert recordings and the exclusivity of the necessity of such measures. It is argued that when considering the criterion of a secret operation, which is identified as a condition for recognising audio and video recordings as inadmissible evidence, it should be acknowledged that in criminal proceedings related to domestic violence, video and audio recordings provided by victims cannot meet this condition in the vast majority of cases. The practical value of the study lies in the possibility of unifying judicial practice in determining the admissibility of evidence contained in audio and video recordings made secretly by victims in criminal proceedings regarding domestic violence

System of Restorative Justice and Juvenile Justice in India: a Brief Comparative Study with Latin American System

Justice everywhere is threatened by injustice anywhere. After the Nirbhaya case verdict in Delhi, the State was accused of being lenient with one of the juvenile offenders; this may have been the cause of the public outcry. Consequently, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, (JJ Act) was passed by India in 2015. Children who commit horrible crimes cannot be dealt with lightly. However, as has been the case in the West, placing them in adult prisons would turn them into hardened criminals and repeat offenders. “Old enough to do the crime, young enough to do the time,” says the adage. Those who commit crimes must serve their sentences. The child activists contend that the Act is founded on the concepts of retribution and vengeance and has overturned all previous good laws. Children need food, not impediments to their growth. They require our society’s compassion rather than the harshness of the law. Restorative justice is a welcome idea. What is required is a shift in perspective, a readiness to prioritize victims in criminal proceedings, and an understanding that mending relationships and undoing harm are crucial components of the criminal justice system. Therefore, rather than simply passing judgment, it is our responsibility to uplift the weak, mend the broken, and comfort the grieving. The article focuses on youth crime kinds and causes, factors that lead to crime and restorative justice. This article also focuses on comparative analysis of Indian restorative justice system with Latin American restorative justice system in juvenile cases.

Rights of victims in criminal proceedings: challenges and state strategy for improving legal status

The article is devoted to issues of procedural regulation of the rights of victims in criminal proceedings. Based on the generalization of UN data on the increase in the number of victims of murder, statistical data of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General, the relevance of legislative initiatives to improve the provision and realization of victims’ rights is substantiated. The directions of state policy regarding ensuring the safety of victims, preventing and countering torture are revealed. It emphasized the “lack of remedies for victims of criminal offenses involving torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Recommendations are given to eliminate these gaps by creating, taking into account international standards and the practice of the European Court, an effective system of rehabilitation, legal protection of victims of criminal offenses related to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including introduction of an effective mechanism for compensation for damage caused to such persons.
 In the conditions of martial law, Ukraine concentrates its efforts on protecting the rights of victims, which requires coordination with the Rules and Procedures of Evidence and Evidence of the International Criminal Court. The full-scale invasion of the aggressor country created new challenges in the field of protection of the rights of victims in criminal proceedings. In order to implement new tasks, a Strategic Plan for the implementation of the powers of the prosecutor’s office in the field of criminal prosecution of international crimes for 2023-2025 was developed, approved by the Prosecutor General on September 15, 2023.
 Improving the system of ensuring the rights of participants in criminal proceedings in accordance with international standards will significantly reduce the number of victims of torture, observing reasonable deadlines for the investigation of criminal proceedings will contribute to increasing the trust of victims in law enforcement agencies, preventing delays in the consideration of criminal proceedings by the court will ensure adequate terms of satisfaction (execution of the court decision in part compensation for physical, moral and material damage). A significant number of victims of war crimes should be aware of their rights in accordance with the procedure of trial by the International Criminal Court, for which it is advisable to make appropriate additions to Chapter 19 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

Psychological Peculiarities of Interrogation Tactics of Vulnerable Victims in Criminal Proceedings

Psychological Peculiarities of Interrogation Tactics of Vulnerable Victims in Criminal Proceedings

The status of the injured victim in criminal proceedings

The status of the injured victim in criminal proceedings

Peculiarities of recognition of a legal entity under public law as a victim in criminal proceedings

The article, taking into account the inconsistency of doctrinal approaches regarding the legal entity — the victim, analyzes the issues regarding the correct definition of legal entities under public law as victims in criminal proceedings. At the same time, it is noted that the specifics of legal entities under public law significantly affect the specifics of identifying them as victims. The features of their interaction within the system of public authorities, the specifics of the distribution of powers, the allocation of subventions from the regional budget and other specific aspects of the flow of legal relations are indicated. The article takes into account the practice of providing expert opinions in the field of law within both pretrial investigation and court proceedings, and which allows us to assert that the above issues are not always resolved correctly. It is pointed out that if the victim is a legal entity, then according to the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine, property damage must be directly caused to such a person by a criminal offense and this must be proven and substantiated within the framework of the pre-trial investigation. However, this approach to legal entities that can acquire the procedural status of a victim is relatively new and is enshrined in the Criminal Code of Ukraine of 2012. In this regard, damage can be considered as negative and unfavorable consequences that occur when property or personal non-property rights and benefits are restricted or violated, which belong directly to a specific victim. On the basis of the above, it can be stated that the damage is one of the grounds for the emergence of legal liability and at the same time it must be caused to a specific, clearly defined legal entity under public law. In view of this, in the case of causing corresponding damage to state interests in the person of individual legal entities, such legal entities under public law must be precisely defined.

State compensation to the victim in criminal proceedings is an integral component of the just resolution of criminal legal matters

"In recent years, there has been attention, both at the international and national levels, on the protection of the rights of victims of criminal offences. The first article of the Criminal Procedure Law outlines the objective of criminal proceedings, namely, to establish a procedural order that ensures the effective application of Criminal Law norms and the fair regulation of criminal legal relations without unjustified interference in a person’s life. One of the key elements of this fair regulation of legal relations is recognising the victim’s right to compensation for the harm suffered. A person who has been a victim of a criminal offence has the right to state compensation, as well as the right to seek compensation within the framework of criminal proceedings, which will be collected from the guilty party. It should be noted that legislative acts provide the opportunity for the victim to both receive state compensation and demand it from the guilty party. Keywords: State compensation, Victim, Criminal proceedings."

Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of the Crime of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and other International Crimes: the focus of the provisions and challenges

The article is devoted to the analysis of the provisions of the 2023 Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of the Crime of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and other International Crimes. The analysis of the provisions of the Convention is important for assessing the capacity of existing mechanisms to respond to international crimes committed in Ukraine. Therefore, the purpose of the article was to assess the provisions of the Convention, its correlation with the legislation of Ukraine, in the aspect of prosecution those guilty of international crimes against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.
 The article examines in detail: the scope and purpose of the Convention; obligations of criminalization; obligation to establish jurisdiction; principle «aut dedere aut judicare»; areas of mutual legal assistance; provisions regarding victims.
 It is indicated that the Convention is an important step in the development of prosecution mechanisms for war crimes. Its unique feature is the presence of norms of international criminal law, despite the name, which concerns only international cooperation, which is not at all characteristic of other conventions on mutual legal assistance. Unfortunately, however, some war crimes and crime of aggression will require additional notification of the application of the Convention, which again reduces its potential positive impact on prosecutions for international crimes.
 The analysis of the provisions of the Convention allows us to reasonably assume that in the event of its ratification: there will be a need to improve the norms of the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding the effect of the criminal law on persons and universal jurisdiction; will require updating the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding the provision of international legal assistance; additions to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding extradition in aspects of the «aut dedere aut judicare» principle will be required; will require verification on the issue of compliance of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine with the Convention regarding the participation of victims in criminal proceedings. In addition, the issue of regulation of restitution, compensation and rehabilitation and other forms of compensation for victims of international crimes will need to be resolved.

About the legal element of a victim of illegal abortion or sterilization

The article is devoted to some topical issues of establishing the characteristics of a victim of a crime, provided for in Art. 134 of the Criminal Code.
 A generalized review of the concept of the victim in criminal law science has been made. Attention is drawn to the fact that the doctrine of the victim has an interdisciplinary nature - the criminal-legal, criminological and criminal-procedural concepts of the victim are distinguished: 1) criminal-legal - the victim of a criminal offense; 2) criminological - a victim of the crime; 3) criminal procedure - a victim in criminal proceedings.
 It has been established that the domestic legislator directly refers to the victim of abortion (sterilization): the relevant parts of Art. 134 of the Criminal Code on forcing abortion or sterilization without the voluntary consent of the “victim”. The author’s opinion is expressed that, in the context of responsibility for illegal abortion, the legislator could specifically indicate a woman, and in the second case – alternatively, a woman or a man.
 In the context of a legal comparison of the provisions of Art. 134 of the Criminal Code and Art.Art. 38 and 39 of the Istanbul Convention, taking into account the systematic approach to the interpretation of legal acts, attention was drawn to the following: a) in the prescriptions of the convention, when it comes to forcing a woman to undergo certain actions (genital mutilation), there is no normative reference to her informed consent; and in the case of an abortion or surgical sterilization of a woman, in the absence of a sign of coercion, a sign of prior and informed consent or understanding of the procedure on the part of the woman is used; b) the domestic legislator provided in part 2 and part 4 of Art. 134 of the Criminal Code, respectively, forcing an abortion / sterilization without the victim’s voluntary consent. The domestic approach has been subjected to reasoned criticism, since in the theory of criminal law, the sign of coercion traditionally excludes the consent of the victim - these concepts are mutually exclusive.
 It is shown how the victim of the investigated crime is mentioned in judicial practice; at the same time, a small number of verdicts passed under Art. 134 of the Criminal Code.

Problems of the lawyer's use of information technologies in activities to protect the rights of the victim in criminal proceedings.

The problems of using information technologies are relevant due to their constant development and implementation in various spheres of human life. Advocacy is no exception. This article is devoted to the peculiarities of their application in the implementation of activities to protect the rights of the victim in criminal proceedings. The author has studied the types and methods of their use at various stages of legal assistance: entering into a case, collecting evidence, participating in a court hearing on a criminal case. The author pays special attention to the peculiarities of assigning a lawyer to a minor victim using an automated system developed with the participation of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation. In the work, the author analyzed the current regulatory legal acts, including the latest amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation regulating the use of electronic document management in criminal proceedings. The peculiarities of the use of information technologies in the process of providing legal assistance have repeatedly become the subject of research, however, the problems arising in the protection of the rights of the victim in criminal proceedings have not received due attention from scientists. According to the results of the study, the author concluded that there is insufficient regulation of some aspects of digital technologies in advocacy, for example, sending electronic lawyer requests, participating in court proceedings via videoconference, assigning a lawyer to a minor victim. Ways to eliminate existing gaps were proposed.

Juvenile victim in criminal proceedings: ensuring the right to representation and communication

The juvenile victim is one of the least protected participants in criminal proceedings, in connection with which the doctrine proposes to provide by law for cases of mandatory participation in the process of the victim's representative to protect the rights and legitimate interests of the juvenile victim. Also expand the list of cases where the court may decide to consider criminal proceedings in closed session, including criminal proceedings in which the victim is a minor and expand the content of specialization of judges in criminal proceedings against minors, including criminal proceedings in which juvenile victims are involved.
 We also believe that lawyers who represent the interests of children should be educated and aware of children's rights and related issues, receive ongoing and in-depth training, and be able to communicate with children at their level of understanding.
 In our opinion, criminal proceedings in which a minor is a victim should be carried out by a judge authorized in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” to conduct criminal proceedings against minors.
 We believe that there may be cases (for example, violent criminal offenses) when re-examination in court may be excessively traumatic for the juvenile victim. In such a case, such a victim should not be knowingly subjected to secondary victimization by an appropriate judicial action. It is possible to interrogate a minor victim with the participation of the court during the pre-trial investigation in order to properly procedurally record his testimony, which can be used during the trial, according to the rules provided for in Art. 225 of the CCP.

Garantía de los derechos de las víctimas en virtud del Código de Procedimiento Penal de Ucrania: problemas actuales y perspectivas

Legal regulation and practical issues of ensuring of rights of victims under the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine are considered in the article. The criminal procedure legislation of Ukraine lacks legal regulation of the mandatory participation of a lawyer representing the victim in criminal proceedings. This situation puts the participants of proceedings in an unequal position. Victims during the trial and in court are unable to properly defend their legitimate interests due to lack of legal awareness. The authors also state that the participation of the victim’s representative in the conclusion of the conciliation agreement should be mandatory. The cases in which victims can receive free legal aid have been analyzed. It is proposed to define the cases of mandatory participation of the representative of victims in the current legislation of Ukraine.