Your Rights
If you’ve been a victim of crime you have the right to receive a certain level of service from the criminal justice system.
Your rights as a victim of crime are explained in the Victim Charter for Northern Ireland.
This Charter sets out how victims of crime should be treated and what advice, support and practical information they can expect to receive. It also outlines:
– How account can be taken of your needs
– How you should be treated
– Available support
– How to complain
A bereaved family member, family member or representative (in certain circumstances), and a parent on behalf of or instead of a child are also covered by this legislation.
The introduction of the Victim Charter enhanced the rights of victims of crime and outlined how they should be treated by the Criminal Justice system. Not all these rights however are currently being upheld and the lack of awareness of these rights amongst victims and criminal justice agencies remains a problem.
The Victim Charter focuses solely on the victim’s engagement with the Criminal Justice System and fails to address the broader health and social welfare needs of all victims of all crime. There is also no overarching accountability mechanism which victims can turn to when their rights are not upheld.
Victim Support NI believe that we need to comprehensively evaluate the implementation of the Victim Charter. We must ensure that all victims have access to advocacy support to help them navigate the system and ensure that their needs are understood.
You can find out more about your rights as a victim of crime by watching our short animated video below:
