Changing Victim Policy: The United Nations Victim Declaration and Recent Developments in Europe: Report on an Ad Hoc Working Group Meeting (From Changing Victim Policy: The United Nations Victim Declaration and Recent Developments in Europe: Report on Expert Group Meeting, 1988, Helsinki, P 1-32, 19

• NCJ Number: 122413
• Author(s): M Joutsen; J Shapland
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 32 pages
• Sale Source: United Nations European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI)
• Publication Type: Survey (Cross-Cultural)
• Language: English
• Country: Finland

Annotation

A meeting convened by a United Nations committee in Helsinki, Finland in November 1988 focused on the measures being taken in Europe to carry out the principles of a 1985 United Nations declaration designed to ensure that victims of crime and abuse of power receive immediate attention, help, and justice.

Abstract

The United Nations Declaration on Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and the Abuse of Power was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1985. The 1988 meeting brought together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from several European countries to discuss developments and exchange ideas on how to stimulate further change in accordance with the principles underlying the United Nations document. The discussions revealed that the victim movement is generally regarded as beginning in the United States. In addition, victim policies have varied among different countries, largely reflecting the source of the pressure for change. Issues addressed have included the role of police and prosecutors, procedural issues, sentencing, victim compensation from the offender or the government, conciliation, mediation, and research. Discussions include developments in Czechoslovakia, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia.