scholarly journals Fear or failure: Why victims of domestic violence retract from the criminal justice process

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lillian Artz
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Research Unit ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Legal Process ◽  
Protection Orders ◽  
Domestic Violence Victims ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process ◽  
Second Tier

In 2008/9 MOSAIC,with the assistance of the Gender, Health & Justice Research Unit (UCT), embarked on research that sought to identify the factors that contribute to domestic violence victims withdrawing from the legal process before they finalise protection orders (POs) applied for under the Domestic Violence Act (DVA). This study was based on the 2008 work of this author who, in partnership with MOSAIC, interviewed 365 domestic violence victims in the Western Cape about their engagement with and retraction from the criminal justice process.The second tier of this project – reported on here – emerged with more focused interview schedules and the addition of eight jurisdictions from which the sample was drawn. The findings from this study were extensive and pointed to a range of personal, systemic and structural reasons why Domestic Violence Act [DVA] applicants disengage from the criminal justice process. This article will limit its focus on three areas that are relevant to the decision by survivors to withdraw their applications for protection orders: the history and severity of violence, deadly threats, and key findings relating specifically to experiences of DVA applicants with the courts.

International and Comparative Legal Perspectives on Victim Participation in Criminal Justice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Manikis
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Legal Process ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
Criminal Justice Systems ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process ◽  
The Common ◽  
Victim Participation ◽  
Historical Developments

Victim participation in common law has evolved across history and jurisdictions. Historical developments within conceptions of crime, harms, and victims in common law as well as the different victims’ movements provide an understanding of the ways that victim participation has been shaped in more-recent common law criminal justice systems. Victim participation in the criminal legal process has also given rise to various debates, which suggests that providing active forms of engagement to victims remains controversial. The forms of victim participation are also diverse, and the literature has provided typologies of victim participation. Forms of participation also vary across jurisdictions and the different stages of the criminal justice process, including prosecutorial decisions, pretrial and trial proceedings, sentencing, parole, and clemency. Finally, research that focuses on victim participation in legal traditions beyond the common law would provide an additional and important contribution to the field.

scholarly journals Women Victims of Domestic Violence: Analysis of Their Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System in Romania

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-40
Author(s):  
Imola Antal ◽  
Júlia Szigeti ◽  
Maria Stoleru
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Legal Intervention ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process

Abstract Criminal justice interventions are important to reduce domestic violence and protect women. In this study we will tackle the unwillingness of women in two regions of Romania to press charges and the failure of the criminal justice system in providing them protection and justice. “Why don’t women press charges?” was the main question that stood at the basis of the international research WOSAFEJUS1, where Babeş-Bolyai University (UBB) was the main Romanian partner through its Faculty of Sociology and Social Work. In our paper we will analyse the studies relevant to the field of domestic violence and we will pay a special attention to those that take into consideration the functioning of the criminal justice system. We will present a preliminary analysis of the women’s perception of the criminal justice system in Romania. Our results are based on 76 semi-structured interviews with women in a situation of domestic violence. Atlas.ti was used to aid a thematic analysis of the qualitative data. The results will highlight women’s expectations regarding the justice system, the perceived usefulness of the legal intervention as well as the main factors that come into play when they decide to stay or to leave the criminal justice process. Even though in most of the cases police intervention can’t or doesn’t provide safety and the rapid elimination of danger, the importance of non-legislative factors of intervention has nevertheless been emphasized.

scholarly journals Evidencing domestic violence*, including behaviour that falls under the new offence of ‘controlling or coercive behaviour’

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Bishop ◽  
Vanessa Bettinson
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Serious Crime ◽  
Oral Testimony ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Gendered Expectations

In 2015 an offence of ‘controlling or coercive behaviour’ was introduced under the Serious Crime Act, criminalising for the first time the non-physical abuse which so often occurs in the domestic context. This new offence implicitly recognises the psychological and emotional harm which can result from an ongoing pattern of behaviour, and the need to consider the controlling or coercive nature of this behaviour in the context of the power dynamics of the relationship in question. Unique evidential difficulties are raised by this offence, in part because of the ways in which gendered expectations can disguise the controlling and coercive nature of certain behaviours. At the same time, to increase the number of prosecutions for domestic violence offences, including under the new offence, acknowledgement of the ongoing trauma often experienced by victims, and the ways in which this may hinder their ability to safely and effectively participate in the criminal justice process, is required. We will outline recommendations to enable this participation, whilst also asserting the need for creative prosecution methods which allow these type of cases to be prosecuted without being solely reliant upon the victim’s oral testimony in court.

The Agreement of Uncontroversial Evidence and the Presumption of Innocence: An Insoluble Dilemma?

2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Duff
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Trial ◽  
Presumption Of Innocence ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Relationship

On 1 April 1996, a rather odd provision was introduced into the Scottish criminal justice process, namely a duty on both prosecution and defence to try to agree uncontroversial evidence in advance of criminal trial.1 As far as the writer is aware, such a provision is unique, although the philosophy underlying its introduction is not totally alien to inquisitorial systems of criminal justice.2 What is particularly peculiar about this duty is that there is no sanction for a failure, however unreasonable, to agree uncontroversial evidence.3 The lack of a sanction resulted from a concern that the creation of any penalty would impinge unjustifiably upon the rights of the accused. The intention in this article is to explore in detail the relationship between the duty to agree uncontroversial evidence and the position of the accused, and to suggest that the imposition of a sanction for a breach of this duty is not as problematic as was thought by those responsible for the legislation.

scholarly journals Perlindungan Hukum Terhadap Korban Tindak Pidana Pencurian Ditinjau Dari Kajian Victimlogi (Studi Putusan No : 20/Pid.B/2017/PN. Mdn)

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-50
Author(s):  
Jhovindo Sitorus ◽  
Rizkan Zulyadi ◽  
Wessy Trisna
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Protection Agency ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process ◽  
Victim Protection ◽  
Article 5

Protection against victims of theft is a protection according to Law Number 13 of 2006 concerning Protection of Witnesses and Victims, all efforts are to fulfill rights and provide assistance to provide security to victims that must be carried out by the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) or other institutions according to criteria. This protection is given at all stages of the criminal justice process within the judicial environment. The following are the rights of victims and witnesses in Law Number 13 of 2006 concerning Protection of Witnesses and Victims Article 5. The research method in this paper is a normative method that collects library data. The results and discussion of this study is about the protection of victims of theft based on the decision number: 20 / Pid.B / 2017 / PN. Mdn, based on the principle or theory of justice is not fair because there is no restitution or compensation to the victim, and the judge's consideration is to pay attention to things that are lightening and burdensome and pay attention to the absence of justification and forgiveness reasons for imposing a criminal sentence in the form of imprisonment for 2 years against the perpetrators.

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