Victim Participation Rights: Variation Across Criminal Justice Systems (Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology)

This book traces victims’ active participatory rights through different procedural stages in adversarial and non-adversarial justice systems, in an attempt to identify what role victims play during criminal proceedings in the domestic setting. Braun analyses countries with different legal traditions, including: the United States, England, Wales and Australia (as examples of mostly adversarial countries); Germany and France (as examples of inquisitorial systems); as well as Denmark and Sweden with their mixed inquisitorial-adversarial background. __Victim Participation Rights__ is distinctive in that it assesses the implementation of formal processes and procedures concerning victim participation at three different procedural stages: first, investigation and pre-trial; second, trial and sentencing; and third, post-trial with a focus on appeal and parole. In addition, Braun provides an in-depth case study on the general position of victims in criminal trials, especially in light of national criminal justice policy, in Germany, a mostly inquisitorial system and Australia, a largely adversarial system. In light of its findings, the book ponders whether, at this stage in time, a greater focus on victim protection rather than on active procedural rights could be more beneficial to enhancing the overall experience of victims. In this context, it takes a close look at the merits of introducing or expanding legal representation schemes for victims. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvi Victim Participation in Criminal Procedure: An Introduction (Kerstin Braun)....Pages 1-30 Victim Participation: A Historic Overview (Kerstin Braun)....Pages 31-64 Victim Perspectives and Criminal Justice (Kerstin Braun)....Pages 65-86 Victim Participation: Investigation and Pre-trial Decisions (Kerstin Braun)....Pages 87-131 Victim Participation: The Trial and Sentencing Process (Kerstin Braun)....Pages 133-173 Victim Participation Post Trial: Appeals and Early Release (Kerstin Braun)....Pages 175-202 Limits of Victim Participation in Adversarial and Non-adversarial Systems—A Case Study of Germany and Australia (Kerstin Braun)....Pages 203-232 Victim Participation: An Enhanced Focus on Legal Representation for Victims (Kerstin Braun)....Pages 233-268 Victim Participation: Review and Conclusions (Kerstin Braun)....Pages 269-286 Back Matter ....Pages 287-296