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Victim Empowerment In The Criminal Justice System

723 Words3 Pages

In a nation like ours, cases of sexual violence have been a key topic of discussion, since the brutal gang rape of a young girl on a bus in Delhi made headlines around the world in December, 2012. Popularly referred to as Nirbhaya, the victim didn’t survive to witness the fate of the alleged offenders who were awarded death penalty and the Supreme Court of India in May,2017 also upheld the verdict of capital punishment for the four men convicted of rape in that case . There have been series of cases of sexual violence especially against women and children, with the recent ones being that of the sexual abuse of minors . The low conviction rates in case of sexual offence, however, portray the ineffectiveness of the existing criminal justice system …show more content…

While the retributive justice system primarily focuses on the community response to offending, thereby totally ignoring the legitimate needs of the victims, the restorative justice system works on the idea of victim empowerment. Having said that, we also have to take into account the recent paradigm shift, which has been a result of the various movements against the deficiencies in the current criminal justice system. The Courts are slowly making certain changes in the sentencing policies by paying heed to the wailings of the victims, one major instance being that of the scope for victim compensation under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The Supreme Court has taken a pro-active role and resorted to affirmative action to protect the rights of victims of sexual offences. Since restorative justice is an emerging concept in India, previous research on this area clearly points out that the main difference between restorative and retributive approaches is the former’s emphasis on reintegration, restitution and reparation. Also, we cannot deny the fact that India is slowly moving towards a more restorative justice approach from the traditional retributive system with assistance from various human rights groups. However, one pertinent question that remains unanswered is whether restorative approach can be effectively applied in sexual offending cases especially involving women and minors. If such approach is possible to mitigate at least some amount of existing societal problems with regard to gendered violence, can the restorative justice system be a possible alternative to the traditional retributive approach? These are some critical issues which will be untangled in the

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110). According to the author, the aim of restorative justice is to heal communities from an incident where people were harmed and, ideally, help prevent the same thing from happening again. I believe that, there is going to be a higher possibility of crime reduction in schools and in different neighborhood if victims and offenders mediate a restitution agreement to the satisfaction of each other. In conjunction to this, if the government can be more committed in supporting these approaches, I believe that there will be a massive drop in crime

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983 Words | 4 Pages

“The Brothel Boy” is a short written by Norval Morris concerning a young, mentally incompetent boy who has been accused of rape resulting in the death of a young girl. Assistant Police Magistrate Blair must investigate the case and impose justice on the perpetrator (Morris, 1992). The case surrounding the brothel boy highlights many aspects of the criminal justice system in regard to the essence of the crime committed, the motivation behind the crime, and the prosecution process. The criminal justice system often distinguishes between two types of offenses: mala prohibita and mala in se. Offences like prostitution and gambling that are not necessarily wrong in nature, but are prohibited by law are considered mala prohibita.

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This type of justice system is designed very differently when compared with the retributive justice system. The restorative justice system endeavours to bring the victim and the offender together and allow them to speak with each other in the hopes to support the healing process. It will enable the victims to express themselves to the offender and lets the offender apologize and express their feelings to the victim. The restorative justice system often offers the victims of crime closure. The system encourages both parties to reveal themselves to each other and develop a solution for the future to satisfy both parties involved.

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401 Words | 2 Pages

1.The theory/concept of intersectionality is a theory centered around oppression, domination and discrimination through various mediums from the social and cultural elements of society. The theory can be applied in many ways toward women as well as their involvement in the criminal justice system. Some forms of discrimination that is more prevalent in perceiving the individual is using a woman's status, race, sexual orientation, ability and age, however there can be more added to this list. The wiki article said “The theory proposes that we should think of each element or trait of a person as inextricably linked with all of the other elements in order to fully understand one's identity.”

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This chapter will continue to compare rape investigations in England and Wales and India as well as the contrast of women’s position in society in both countries. The focal point of the chapter stems from the initial point of argument, which is based around the case study of Jyoti Singh. A 23-year-old Delhi based physiotherapy student was gang raped on a moving bus on December 16 in Munirka close to South Delhi. The incident took place when the victim along with a male friend had entered a private bus where the victim was gang raped and tortured by six men including the driver who were already present in the bus .

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1479 Words | 6 Pages

Today our justice system has a multitude of options when dealing with those who are convicted of offenses. However, many argue that retributive justice is the only real justice there is. This is mainly because its advantage is that it gives criminals the appropriate punishment that they deserve. The goals of this approach are clear and direct. In his book The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Zehr Howard (2002), illustrates that the central focus of retributive justice is offenders getting what they deserve (p. 30).

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117 Words | 1 Pages

Restorative Justice processes are likely to reduce criminals from repeating offenses, as numerous recidivism studies have demonstrated. Thus, it would be more than justified to employ restorative processes a response to crimes under

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936 Words | 4 Pages

The family is not familiar with the legal system and its processes, but cannot afford to hire an attorney. The warranty corporation has their own team of lawyers to appear on their behalf. They will be able to organize and present their material in a way that gives it legitimacy to a jury and/or judge. The family might have a legitimate claim but do not understand or know to include information that could potentially when their case. This error can lead to a negative outcome for the family who might have won if they had access to a lawyer.

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Sexual assault laws have been amended and created over time to ensure the criminal justice system remains sensitive to the tribulations involved in rape trials for the victim. However, the connotative capacity of language used in evidentiary testimonies in rape trials can defeat the purpose of these reforms as ‘language is not merely a means of putting forth evidence in a case, but it in fact transforms the nature of evidence itself, thus influencing the outcome of the case’ (Maheshwari 2014:1). As theorised by Bourdieu (1982) symbolic power as ‘the power to create reality through language’ (Matoesian 1995:38) is successfully employed in rape trials to instil patriarchal and legal domination over the victim. The use of language in courtroom

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The victim deserves similar level of protection and attention from the court like that of an accused i.e. a victim 's interests need to be balanced vis-à-vis that of accused. Victims of crime go through mental and physical trauma and suffer throughout their lives , as there place in the society changes. A victim is certainly entitled to reparation, restitution and safeguards of his rights and criminal justice would look hollow if justice is not done to the victim of the crime. In recent years, the Legislature and the judiciary have taken gradual steps to develop the necessary principles by which appropriate compensation could be paid to the victims of crimes. The gradual shift in the approach of the Supreme Court is a positive sign but other organs i.e. the government and the legislature have to make conscious efforts to consider the rights of the victims.

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1057 Words | 5 Pages

About twenty-two percent of rapes involved gang rapes. Most of the rape cases that do occur in the world have been underreporting’s. In India, just in 2014, there have been over thirteen thousand recorded reports of rape cases on minors. Just in New Delhi, one thousand of these thirteen

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1296 Words | 6 Pages

State of Maharashtra, a head constable raped a tribal girl, Mathura in police station-even as her relatives and other were waiting outside the police station. The conviction of the accused by the High Court was set aside in appeal by the Supreme Court, observing that the onus is always on the prosecution to prove affirmatively each ingredient of the offence it seeks to establish. The suggestion that consent was lacking in the present case was negative because of absence of any evidence of resistance or injury on her person. When it was said that consent may have been obtained by putting her in fear of death or hurt, and that may be the reason for the absence of injury, it was said that it must be shown that she must have been put in such fear and that there was no such finding. Five leading jurists wrote to the Chief Justice of India pointing out miscarriage of justice, which led to public commotion and criticism.

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1377 Words | 6 Pages

When critically analysed, the system derives its justification from the consistency but not the uniformity in sentencing. Key among them is the circumstances leading the offender in the crime. The magistrate therefore looks at the factors that differentiate men and women before reaching at any sentence. However, it is important to exercise fairness and where the magistrate feels weighed down by the accused person’s (women) primary responsibilities to involve child welfare services before issuing a

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2091 Words | 9 Pages

Batley (2005) stated that restorative justice is about restoring, healing and re- integrating victims, offenders, as well as the society and also preventing further harm. In this assignment, I will be discussing approaches to restorative justice and illustrating their advantages and disadvantages to offending. I will also provide the applications of these five approaches of restorative justice which are retributive approach, utilitarian deterrence approach, rehabilitation approach, restitution approach and restorative approach in the given case study. I will then explain my preferred approach to justice through identifying a personal belief or value that underpins my choice.

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1446 Words | 6 Pages

In efforts to completely eradicate child marriages within its society, the Government of India enacted the 'Prevention of Child marriage Act 2006 ', which replaced the earlier legislation of 'Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929. ' This new Act is makes it possible to prohibit for child marriage, protect and provide relief to victim and enhance punishment for those who promote or are invovled in such marriage. This Act also calls upon the need to appoint 'Child Marriage Prohibition Officers ' to implement this act. South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against

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