Hearing the Victim: Adversarial Justice, Crime Victims and the State

In recent years far more attention has been paid to victims of crime - both interms of awareness of the effect of crime upon their lives, and in changes that have been made to the criminal justice system to improve their rights and treatment. This process seems set to continue, with legislative plans announced to 'rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of the victim'. This latest book in the Cambridge Criminal Justice Series brings together leading authorities in the field to review the role of the victim in the criminal justice system in the context of these developments.The book falls broadly into two parts. The first half is largely contextual in character, exploring the relationship that should exist between State and individual victim; summarising recent policy developments; and discussing the politics of victims' issues and the overlap between victim and offender. The remaing chapters explore the role of the victim in the practice of adversarial criminal justice, beginning with the relationship between victims and prosecutors; going on to analyse the treatment of victims in court; discussing the results of a detailed study of the use of victim impact statements in homicide trials in London; and finally exploring victim input into the punishment of convicted offenders.This book provides a valuable contribution to debates surrounding the complex and sometimes contoversial issues of the role of the victim in the criminal justice system. Hearing the Victim will be essential reading for students, practitioners and policy-makers across the common law world.