Victims’ rights are human rights: The importance of recognizing victims as persons

Abstract

In this paper the author argues that victims? rights are human rights. Criminal law typically views victims as witnesses to a crime against the state, thus shutting them out of the criminal justice process and only allowing them in when they are needed to testify. This is a major source of dissatisfaction for victims who seek validation in the criminal justice system. Victims are persons with rights and privileges. Crimes constitute violations of their rights as well as acts against society or the state. While human rights instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, do not mention crime victims specifically, a number of rights are identified, which can be viewed from the victim?s perspective. As individuals with dignity, victims have the right to recognition as persons before the law. However, such rights are only meaningful if they can be enforced.Autorka u ovom clanku tvrdi da su prava zrtava ljudska prava. Krivicni zakon obicno vidi zrtve kao svedoke zlocina protiv drzave i tako ih iskljucuje iz procesa krivicnog pravosudja osim u slucajevima kada su potrebni kao svedoci. Ovo je glavni uzrok nezadovoljstva zrtava koje traze potvrdu u sistemu krivicnog pravosudja. Zrtve su licnosti sa pravima i privilegijama. Krivicna dela cine povredu njihovih prava kao i cin usmeren protiv drustva ili drzave. Dok instrumenti ljudskih prava kao sto su Univerzalna deklaracija o ljudskim pravima posebno ne pominju zrtve zlocina, oni identifikuju jedan broj ljudskih prava koja su vidljiva iz perspektive zrtve. Kao individue koje imaju dostojanstvo, zrtve imaju pravo da pred zakonom budu prepoznate kao licnosti. Ipak, ova prava imaju smisla jedino ako se mogu sprovesti u praksi.