The Concept of Victim in the Criminal Procedure of Lithuania and other Countries
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Abstract
In criminal procedure the protection of human rights requires to grant victims a special procedural status, which would enable them to take advantage of active protection of their rightful interests in criminal proceedings. However, when discussing about the improvement of the legal status of the victim the essential question is if we treat the victim as the subject of criminal procedural relations in the same manner. The purpose of the article is to analyse the concept of the victim in Lithuanian and foreign legislation, legal writings and sources of international law. Having analysed the essential factors, the authors have made suggestions regarding the improvement the status of the victim and made the following conclusions:
– the concept of the victim, with the exception of Poland, Russia and other post soviet states is not widely known. The laws abroad limit themselves to indicating features of persons who are eligible participants in the criminal proceedings. This way the concept is narrowed and a way too broad at times;
– the concept of the victim in criminal procedure is more a theoretical dispute linked to the usage of different terminology. First, the object under discussion is still the same, second the biggest importance is attached to formalities of recognizing the personas a victim. Therefore the concept of the victim, or the term „victim“ is used in a different sense in other legal fields and legislation.
– the concept of the victim has not been co-ordinated in Lithuanian legal acts and is not elaborated, therefore we propose defining the victim in the following way: victim shall be a natural or legal person about which sufficient data is available to confirm that as a result of criminal activities he has suffered physical or moral damages, as well as a result of preparation or attempt to commit a crime or there has been a great probability that the damage will occur. In the event of death of the victim, next of the kin or other statutory representatives shall be recognized victims;
– the person shall be recognized a victim by writing down the protocol of rights and duties of the victim in criminal proceedings as soon as the information about the damages sustained is available for the pre-trial investigation institutions or prosecutors office or the mentioned circumstances are established by an officer of pre-trial investigation institutions or prosecutor himself. The copy of the protocol shall be given to the victim;
– in the event the grounds for being recognised a victim disappear, a motivated decision on that must be made and the relevant person must be informed.
– the concept of the victim, with the exception of Poland, Russia and other post soviet states is not widely known. The laws abroad limit themselves to indicating features of persons who are eligible participants in the criminal proceedings. This way the concept is narrowed and a way too broad at times;
– the concept of the victim in criminal procedure is more a theoretical dispute linked to the usage of different terminology. First, the object under discussion is still the same, second the biggest importance is attached to formalities of recognizing the personas a victim. Therefore the concept of the victim, or the term „victim“ is used in a different sense in other legal fields and legislation.
– the concept of the victim has not been co-ordinated in Lithuanian legal acts and is not elaborated, therefore we propose defining the victim in the following way: victim shall be a natural or legal person about which sufficient data is available to confirm that as a result of criminal activities he has suffered physical or moral damages, as well as a result of preparation or attempt to commit a crime or there has been a great probability that the damage will occur. In the event of death of the victim, next of the kin or other statutory representatives shall be recognized victims;
– the person shall be recognized a victim by writing down the protocol of rights and duties of the victim in criminal proceedings as soon as the information about the damages sustained is available for the pre-trial investigation institutions or prosecutors office or the mentioned circumstances are established by an officer of pre-trial investigation institutions or prosecutor himself. The copy of the protocol shall be given to the victim;
– in the event the grounds for being recognised a victim disappear, a motivated decision on that must be made and the relevant person must be informed.
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Please see Copyright and Licence Agreement for further details.
