The Council of Europe: Development Human Rights - Essay Example

Swarna1 Word count: 1823 P.Swarna Latha ID # 5448 Order # 199094 d 28th December 2007 Critically evaluate the role played by Victim Support in assisting victims of crime and advocating for reforms on their behalf. And Critically evaluate the contribution of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights to the development of rights for victims of crime.   Introduction The management of crime is one of the important areas of concern in the present society. It is reported that one out of the four Europeans are subjected to crime of different forms, they are subjected to disadvantage in social, political and economical fronts and hence they need to be protected in integrated manner. Other wise they loose the confidence in organized world and faith in other human beings which is dangerous to the society. Hence it calls for immediate measures for crime management and victim support services (Van Dijk, 1996). However, the successful crime management requires thorough study of nature of crime and causes of the same and nature of victimization (Joutsen, 1997). Hence this necessitates the reforms in the criminal law provisions and judiciary and also establishment of victim support organizations for providing services and assistance to genuine victims of crime (Groenhuijsen, 1998). This is made possible by victim support services, European court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe. Role of Victim Support in assisting victims of crimes and in reform making process Victim support1 is a service available to citizens of England for helping themselves in minimizing the effects of crime. There has been a remarkable increase in incidents of crime in different forms in the European society. It is indeed difficult to solve these crime related problems for any person at his individual level with out any external support. Hence there is a strong necessity of some supporting charity or institution that aids the people subjected to crime. Its main objective is to reduce the negative effects of the 1: Victim Support. http://www.victimsupport.org/vs_england_wales/index.php. crime and to manage the crime related after effects in most efficient manner. The role of Victim Support is highly appreciable in this direction. Moreover, Victim Support also promotes and advances the rights of victims and witnesses. Victim support also maintains the confidentiality and privacy of the victims of crime and hence it is liked by all the sections of the people. It is also committed to the service of minority and disadvantaged groups subjected to crime on priority basis. Hence here is a need to critically evaluate its role in assisting victims and advocating reforms on their behalf. Victim Support assists the victims to deal with their experience in most efficient manner. It also aids in immediate service due to its strong local victim support branches. More over, it also extends help to the victims of crime in approaching the courts and completion of trials for achieving the natural justice in incidents of crime. The efforts of Victim Support in helping the children who fall under 7-14 years age group have to be appreciated. This group of children are regularly and frequently subjected to crime and hence they need to be protected from the crime incidence by making them aware about the preventive steps. At the same time, one cannot avoid completely the incidence of crime and they are regularly trained in crime management once experienced in their life time. For meeting this task, Victim Support always takes initiative in providing more information relating to the crime management. It also aids in reform making process as the traditional judiciary provisions have some draw backs in crime management. It promotes reform process by making more easy communication of legal provisions of national laws and United Nations laws and Council of Europe directives to the general public from time to time as and when necessary. In this direction, online information services through new websites like “Are You O.K.” have been launched by Victim Support in England. This also aids in effective management of street safety. It certainly reduces the adverse consequences of victimization in the form of damage control and facilitation of the coping process and it also avoids any possible additional harm. In this course, Victim Support also helps in promoting restitution and compensation and most importantly it plays crucial role in preventing repeated victimization (Marion Brienen et al., 2000). The role of reforms in European Judicial process is remarkable in providing victim support services (Crawford and Goodey, 2000). Earlier, the victims were not provided with necessary compensation in crime cases. But the situation got changed recently with the introduction of reforms in judiciary. Some researchers mentioned that the successful implementation of the legal provisions is more crucial in crime management and victim support services (Groenhuijsen, 1999: 85-144). The victims should be provided with sufficient support by providing specific training to the police who regularly deal with the crime (Ashworth, 2000). They must be trained well to deal effectively about the victims. At the same time, the questioning of victims also has to be given top priority. For example, the questioning of special group of victims like children must involve different crime management system. In this direction, the services of children’s hearing studios in solving the crime related problems of children is noteworthy (Brienen, and Hoegen, 2000). The recent introduction of victim impact statements in several European countries have a positive addition to victim policy and practice in Europe (Jo-Anne Wemmers, 2005). Role of Council of Europe and European Court of Human Rights in development of basic rights of victims of crime European Court of Human Rights2 mainly aims at uniform application of universal law relating to the protection of human rights and hence it helps in protecting the victim’s rights in management of crime. It derives its basic principles from United Nations declaration on human rights and declaration of basic principles of justice for victims of crime and abuse of power. One should not forget the constructive role of United Nations General Assembly played in 1985 for adopting the declaration of basic principles of justice for victims of crime and abuse of power. This has helped the victims of crime in fighting for their basic rights. 2: European Court of Human Rights. http://www.echr.coe.int/echr/. As the national laws have some limitations in implementing the reforms necessary for protection of interests of the victims in terms of compensation and treatment, the United Nations declaration brings the international consensus for effective implementation of basic rights of victims of crime. The European Court of Human Rights helps the victims especially in cases where the people get victimized and don’t get proper justice due to their non access to basic human rights like right to freedom of expression and movement. The efforts of the Council of Europe3 also are noteworthy which issued its Recommendation on the position of the victim in the framework of criminal law and procedure. As a result, the victims are made well aware about their basic rights in protecting themselves against crime victimization. Though the national laws differ among themselves in interpretation of some provisions of crime management, due to the efforts of Council of Europe, there emerged an international consensus on the type of legal rights victims must be accorded within the framework of criminal justice 3 : Council of Europe. http://www.coe.int/. systems. In this way, The Council of Europes Recommendation (85) 11 on the Position of the Victim in the Framework of Criminal Law and Procedure forms the important document along with the United Nations declaration of basic principles of justice for victims of crime in bringing the international consensus on legal rights for victims. This is very remarkable as the national laws governing the victim rights in crime management became dormant. This led to a meaningful process in which some basic minimum rights to be implemented in successful management of criminal victimization have been identified. The role of European Convention on the compensation of victims of violent crime (1983) is also noteworthy in protecting the interests of the victims subjected to violent crime. Similarly, the framework decision on standing of victims in criminal proceedings (2001) has been instrumental in successful implementation of basic rights for victims of crime which is binding on member states. In the due course of time, they helped in protection of victim’s rights. This also implies that the victims have to be highly respected and recognized while questioning about their experience. The victims must be provided with legal advice and representation and they should be ensured regarding their safety and privacy. Moreover, the restitution and compensation for the genuine victims has to be ensured. It was also opined that the victims must be provided with basic rights to a system of free Victim Support services. They must be guided by trained volunteers or professionals in getting access to Victim Support services and in maintaining personal autonomy. Conclusion The establishment of victim support has helped tremendously the genuine victims of crime through out the Europe in general and Unite Kingdom in particular. The protection of victim’s rights to have basic access to victim support services is of utmost importance for safer human society (Dunn, 2007). The role of Council of Europe and European Court of Human Rights is praiseworthy as they aided in successful implementation of victim support services by making necessary judicial reforms as and when necessary. In addition, they provide valuable guidance to both the victim support services and also victims in dealing with the real life experience of crime and its after effects. References: Ashworth, A. 2000. Chapter 9: Victims Rights, Defendants Rights, and Criminal Procedure, In “Integrating a Victim Perspective within Criminal Justice”. (ed: Adam Crawford & Jo Goodey). Ashgate Publishing - Aldershot, p:185-204. Brienen, M.E.I., Marc Groenhuijsen and Hoegen, E.H. 2000. Evaluation and Meta-Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Victim-Oriented Legal Reform in Europe. Criminologie. 33 (1). Brienen, M.E.I. and Hoegen, E.H. 2000. Victims of Crime in 22 European Juridictions: The Implementation of Recommendation 85 (11) of the Council of Europe on the Position of the Victim in the Framework of Criminal Law and Procedure, Tilburg: Wolf Legal Productions. Crawford, A. and Goodey, J. (2000) (eds) Integrating a Victim Perspective within Criminal Justice, Ashgate Publication. P: 318. Dijk, J. Van. 1996. "Crime and Victim Surveys", in International Victimology: Selected Papers from the 8th International Symposium, Chr. Sumner et al (eds.). Canberra. P: 121-132. Dunn, P. (2007). Chapter 10: Matching service delivery to need, In “Handbook of Victims and Victimology”. (ed: Sandra Walklate). Willan Publishing - Cullompton - Devon, UK. P: 255-281. ISBN: 9781843922575. Groenhuijsen, M.S. 1998. Objectives of Victim Assistance: the Professionalisation of Service Providing Organisations. A Comparison between European experiences and recent Developments in South Africa, Social Work Practice, Pretoria, South Africa: Department of Welfare, Pretoria. Jo-Anne Wemmers. 2005. Victim Policy Transfer: Learning From Each Other. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research. 11 (1): March Issue. Joutsen, M. 1997. Criminal Policy and Victims of Crime: a European Perspective, Oxford. Read More