- First, a greater focus on victims will assist in reducing the cost and
impact of crime on individuals and on society in general. The more
quickly victims recover from their experience of the criminal offending
committed against them, the better their outcomes are likely to be.
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Second, improved responsiveness to victims will enhance the
effectiveness of, and public confidence in, the criminal justice system.
Such confidence is necessary for those victimised by crime and for the
whole community. Minimising, or failing to recognise, the harm crime
imposes on victims may cause victims to become disillusioned.
Disillusionment may result in victims withdrawing their cooperation from
the formal justice system. This cooperation is essential to the
effectiveness of the criminal justice system, to ensure victims report
crimes and also because it is often the victim‟s information which leads
to the conviction of the offender.
Issues
The Ministry has identified three broad issues facing victims of crime:
- Victims of crime find it frustrating having to deal with multiple government agencies to get information about the criminal justice system, their rights and how to access services.
- There are weak mechanisms to make criminal justice agencies accountable for the services they deliver to victims.
- Many victims find the current criminal justice processes bewildering. Victims often feel they do not have any role in the criminal case involving them and do not know what is happening. Many processes in the criminal justice system need to be more receptive to victims‟ needs.
Key proposals
To address these three issues, this consultation document includes 24 preliminary proposals. In developing these proposals we were mindful of the current criminal justice processes, the principles that are associated with the enforcement of criminal law, the need to be culturally responsive to the needs of MÄori victims, and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. An overview of these principles is included in Chapter One.
Chapters Two and Three recommend establishing a new way of delivering further services that will ensure a better focus on victims in the system, and enhance criminal justice agencies‟ accountability to victims. The preliminary proposals would:
- Establish a Victims’ Services Centre as a central coordination and information point for the services available to support victims
- Develop a Code of Practice against which all criminal justice agencies can be made more accountable
- Establish a Victims of Crime Complaints Officer to improve the complaints process and assist in enforcing the Code of Practice
- Require all criminal justice sector agencies to include in their Annual Report to Parliament information about the use of their services by victims and any complaints received from victims.
A further 20 preliminary proposals are discussed in Chapters Four, Five, Six and Seven. Many of these proposals require amending the Victims‟ Rights Act 2002. The proposals would:
- Improve victims’ role within the criminal justice process by providing for more communication between victims and prosecutors to ensure victims have the opportunity to be more involved in the case
- Provide further victim information to the court by giving victims the right to say more in their Victim Impact Statement and to read their statement to the court
- Improve the Victim Notification System for victims of serious offences by tailoring the system so victims can choose the level of notifications they receive and control their level of involvement
- Clarify the rights of victims of child and youth offenders by ensuring the Victims‟ Rights Act 2002 is more explicit as to how it applies to cases in the youth jurisdiction.
The full consultation document is available online
.