The Victim in American Penal Law: A Systematic Overview

Source: (2000) Buffalo Criminal Law Review. 3(1)

Much of the discussion of the status and role of the victim in American penal law focuses on the criminal process, writes Markus Dubber. This is symptomatic of the primacy of procedure in American law. In contrast, Dubber starts from the point that the victim plays a role in every aspect of American penal law. Hence, he aims in this article to provide a systematic overview of the victims’ role throughout the entirety of penal law – from the general and special part of substantive criminal law, to the imposition of penal norms in the criminal process, and to the actual enforcement of norms upon suspects and convicts.