NCJ Number
167372
Date Published
1997
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Victim services in Europe are discussed with respect to progress made by voluntary organizations, developments in restitution and victim compensation, issues related to victim services and victims' rights in the criminal justice system, the role of research.
Abstract
The most significant development of the victims' movement in Europe has occurred in the last 10 years and differs in several ways from the response in the United States. The emphasis in Europe is on victim services rather than on victims' rights or radical legislation on their behalf. In addition, fewer self-help groups have been formed by victims of particular types of crime. In addition, differences in the social and legal traditions of individual European countries have resulted in varying practices related to victims. Voluntary groups established expressly to assist crime victims now exist in almost every European country. General support services have reached a particularly high level of organization in Great Britain and Germany. Many other countries now have government-sponsored victim compensation programs. Compensation from offenders in Europe can occur by means of three different models: the partie civile procedure, compensation as part of a sentence, and restitution made informally or as part of a diversion arrangement by the prosecutor. Victim participation in the criminal justice system currently exists at a every low level. Future trends will probably include the increasing institutionalization of victim issues, increasing professionalization of victim services, and the continuing development of alternative paths for offenders within criminal justice. Notes and 68 references