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This book examines the changing role of victims of crime in the Irish criminal process. It documents the variety of ways in which victims of crime are now being written into the criminal process discourse and practice in Ireland, while taking account of existing challenges. The book seeks to show how the justice system is emerging from hegemonic dominance and examines the conditions which have made their re-emergence possible and the commitments, practices and strategic priorities shaping this inclusionary momentum. It demonstrates how the paradigm of prosecuting and investigating crime moved from an intensely local, unstructured and victim-precipitated arrangement to a structured, adversarial, state-monopolised event where the accused was largely silenced and the victim was rendered invisible. The book documents the black-letter, technocratic details of how victims have been juridically provided for since the late 1980s in Ireland. It then focuses on service rights which complement the legal rights which victims of crime have been afforded in Ireland. The book also charts the challenges which continue to face service users, providers and the wider criminal justice sector in the delivery of services which are responsive to the needs of victims and meet increased demands under the EU Directive on Victims' Rights. Innovative policy options adopted in other jurisdictions, including the creation of an Ombudsman for Victims of Crime and measures to unify service provision within the sector, including Witness Care Units, are also explored.
with the objectives of the Directive, the goal of pitch-perfect service provision for victims of crime will take some time to realise. While it is positive, the re-emergence of the victim in criminal justice discourse and the juridification of victims’ rights witnessed in recent years should not be viewed as a panacea. Chapter 5 charted the challenges which continue to face service users, providers and the wider criminal justice sector in the delivery of services which are responsive to the needs of victims and meet increased demands under the EU Directive on
The coming years provide an exciting opportunity to improve the experience of victims of crime in Ireland and to give practical effect to the rights of victims in this jurisdiction. The focus of the EU Directive on Victims’ Rights is on the availability of high-quality services delivered in a respectful, sensitive, professional and non‑discriminatory manner, and it recognises victims of crime as bearers of rights rather than mere ‘consumers of criminal justice’ (Zedner, 2004 : 146). We must take this opportunity to build upon the many positive developments and
, medical, psychological and social assistance through governmental, voluntary, community-based and indigenous means’ (Principle 14). Moreover, the EU Directive on Victims’ Rights (2012/29/EU) is predominantly concerned with the provision of service rights, with its specific purpose stated as being ‘to ensure that victims of crime receive appropriate information, support and protection and are able to participate in criminal proceedings’ (Article 1). In Ireland, victims’ service rights are outlined and protected within the Victims Charter and Guide to the Criminal
the criminal process means that an argument does not have to have a great deal of merit in order to have an influence on how a trial is conducted, or what form of resolution of the proceedings might be acceptable either to the prosecution or to the court’. 23 He also pointed out that section 16 protects rights conferred by the new EU Directive on Victims’ Rights, and noted that significant safeguards attached, including the requirement that the witness must be available at the trial for cross-examination, and the proviso that the court has a discretion not to admit