A VOICE FOR VICTIMS

by MONITOR
ONE of the areas of public concern in which Tony Blair could conceivably make a positive impression in whatever time is left to him concerns the balance between those accused of breaking the law and those who are the victims of such breaches.
There is a general view in Britain that the legal rights of criminals are more carefully protected than those of people who have suffered at their hands.
Quite often this perception may be more apparent than real; nonetheless there are a number of measures that could be introduced to provide a more level legal playing field.
To a considerable extent ordinary people who have suffered from criminal activity feel that they are left out of the legal consequences that follow.
A law court can seem a forbidding place even to someone with no reason to fear it. Often the judge and the prosecuting and defence lawyers may seem to be enjoyably engaged in a game of which only they know the rules.
Ways certainly need to be found to give victims a voice when a crime has had a direct and provable effect on them.
The current experiment of allowing victims to give evidence before the judge considers his sentence may be open to emotional abuse but there is a sound principle at its core. The interests of the public at large should be better represented when Parole Boards consider the early release of a prisoner.