History and Effectiveness of Victim Rights Legislation and Programs

Victim's Rights Policy All elements of criminal justice have the same purpose, namely the prevention and fight against crime. The prevention and fighting of crime also includes providing services to victims of crime. The main focus of the criminal justice system is to arrest, prosecute and recover criminals, but many people forget to pay attention to the victims. Established in 1975, the National Victim Assistance Organization is the oldest state organization providing aid to victims of crime and crisis.

In the decades thereafter, supporters of the rights of the victims made great success in legislation. Today the victim's rights movement continues to promote the law which guarantees the victims' substantial rights and provides procedural mechanisms to effectively execute these rights. Victim rights organizations also provide evidence-based support, provide legal guidance and support to individual victims, and educate future legal experts on issues related to victim rights. Since 1982, 33 provinces have amended the Constitution to deal with the victim's rights, and all states passed the law on the victim's rights. In the same year, Congress passed the First Federal Crime Victim Rights Act, Victims and Witness Protection Act. In 1984, the Crime Victims Act was passed. In 1994, 10 years later, the law on violence against women was passed.

The current discussion at the US Congress on the constitutional amendment proposal on the right of crime victims highlights the relevance of victim rights law and the need for research in this field. This survey project was conducted by the State Crime Victim Center Center to verify the hypothesis that the legal protection of the rights of crime victims will have some influence on the treatment of the victims by the criminal justice system and the perception of the victims it was done. The system-related assumption is that victims from countries with strong legal protection will gain more favorable experience and satisfaction than beneficiaries of countries with weak legal protection. Overall, this survey shows that strong legal protection has been effective, but even in countries that have strong legal protection, some victims do not have the right is showing.