Victims and the Criminal Justice System

Complainant as Witness: Victims serve dual roles and thus experience unique challenges.
Disempowerment: Victims often feel disempowered and lack autonomy within the system.
Attrition: High rates of case attrition affect outcomes and may deter victims from pursuing justice.
Lengthy Process: The prolonged legal process can exacerbate the victim's trauma.
Adversarial Nature: The courtroom’s adversarial process creates additional pressure on victims.
Aggressive Cross-Examination: Witnesses and complainants face aggressive questioning, leading to increased stress.
Double Victimization: Victims may feel victimized again during police interviews, court procedures, and sentencing stages.
Charge Negotiations: These can complicate the victim's feelings of justice being served.
Justice Needs: Exploration of whether victims' needs are met through current processes.

Documentary Series: "On Trial" provides unprecedented access to major criminal trials in Australian courts, featuring varied crimes such as murder and assault.
- Highlight: Important to understand the procedural dynamics and implications for victims, particularly during cross-examination.

Victim Perspectives: Victims desire genuine opportunities to contribute their views in legal proceedings.
- Key Points:
- Opportunity to express their views is critical.
- Need for lawyers to genuinely listen to victim perspectives.
- Feelings of being heard correlate with satisfaction regarding the justice process.

Victims expressed dissatisfaction when lawyers:
- Attempted to 'sell' resolution decisions.
- Engaged in a tokenistic manner during consultations.
- Treated victims as mere statistics.

Victims reported satisfaction when lawyers:
- Demonstrated awareness of individual priorities.

Expectations from Lawyers:
- Provide clear, understandable answers to their questions.
- Explain information in an accessible manner.
- Offer specific, relevant information regarding resolution decisions.
- Proactively communicate necessary information to victims.

Managing Expectations: Victims often have unrealistic expectations regarding the justice process.
Avoiding Witness Coaching: Prosecutors must navigate the line between empathy and impartiality.
Consulting Distressed Victims: Challenges arise in effectively consulting victims who are in distress.

Historical Context: Over the past three decades, there has been a shift towards centering the victim in criminal justice policy (Garland, 2001, p. 11).

Victim Support Services:
- Provision of advice, practical assistance for crime victims, aiding them in navigating the system.
- Services include:
  - Emotional support and counselling for sexual violence survivors (Victim Assist QLD).
  - Emergency accommodations and advocacy for domestic violence victims (DV Connect Brisbane).
Victim of Crime Commissioner:
- An independent statutory officer appointed by the government to advocate for victim rights and inclusion (e.g., Queensland's Victim’s of Crime Commissioner).
Legal Frameworks:
- The Charter of Victims Rights (Australia) and the UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crimes (1985).
- Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009 (Qld) establishes rights and supports for victims.
Statutory Rights:
- Rights to participate in probation and parole decisions and provide input.

Overview:
- Victim Impact Statements (VIS) seek to provide the court with information regarding the emotional and psychological effects of the crime on the victim.
- They aid judges in sentencing decisions and are voluntary submissions.
- Victims can read the statements themselves or have them read by a designated person.
Focus: Statements emphasize the impact of the crime rather than the crime itself.

Tom Meagher's Statement:
- Emotional and personal reflection illustrating the loss of his partner and the profound effects on his life, including anxiety, fear, and altered worldview, due to crime committed against him and his partner.

Symbolic/Expressive Functions:
- Re-centering the victim’s voice in the legal process and addressing their marginalization.
- Providing therapeutic and emotional catharsis.
Instrumental Functions:
- Helping assess the seriousness of offenses and aiding proportionality in sentencing (Roberts & Manikis, 2011).

Findings:
- Interviews revealed that legal culture influenced the perception and effectiveness of VIS.
- Some professionals approached VIS as clinical tools while dismissing 'unreasonable' claims.
- Participants viewed VIS as largely symbolic rather than impactful on sentencing outcomes.

Mixed opinions among justice professionals on the instrumental versus symbolic roles of VIS in sexual offense cases based on interviews with victims and professionals.

Cooling Out Process (Booth, 2012):
- Disappointments raised by VIS are often managed through processes such as editing or denying statements, leading to frustration for victims.
Victim Response:
- Victims have expressed feelings of anger and injustice when their statements are edited for acceptability.

Case Example: Victim of a rape trial decided against submitting her impact statement due to a change in charges, feeling that submitting a statement would imply consent to an act she did not sanction.

Study Results (Lens et al., 2015):
- Investigation into the impact of VIS on victims' emotional states highlighted limited therapeutic benefits despite correlations with feelings of anger and anxiety reduction, rooted in the principles of procedural justice.

Importance of Victims:
- Victims play a crucial role in the CJS, historically marginalized but increasingly recognized under various frameworks and legislation.
VIS as a Key Initiative:
- Victim Impact Statements hold both instrumental and symbolic aims, prompting a discussion about whether systemic changes are substantial or