Source: (1998) In Support for crime victims in a comparative perspective, ed. Ezzat Fattah and Tony Peters, 55-68. A collection of essays dedicated to the memory of Prof. Frederic McClintock. With a preface by Ezzat Fattah and Tony Peters. Leuven, Belgium: Leuven University Press.
To examine victim assistance in Switzerland, Kuhn begins by summarizing the situation of the victim in Switzerland before 1993. He argues that prior to 1993 the victim was the forgotten party in penal law and procedural law. However, in January 1993 a federal victim-assistance law took effect in Switzerland. Kuhn sketches the history behind this particular legislation and the content of the legislation itself. Among other things, the legislation strengthened the status of the victim in criminal procedure, provided for state compensation to victims in certain circumstances, and mandated that the state make available “moral assistanceâ€? (counseling and social assistance) to victims. In view of possible objections about the cost of all of this, Kuhn also provides statistics and analysis to detail who benefits from state compensation and state assistance.
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