Legislative Protection of Victims in Criminal Justice Systems

Abstract

This paper presents a conceptual, comparative review of legislative protection for victims in criminal justice systems, focusing on the contemporary shift from symbolic recognition of victims’ rights to their effective implementation. Drawing on recent scholarship, official legal instruments, and comparative policy materials, the article analyses victim-protection frameworks through five interrelated dimensions: rights recognition, procedural participation, protection from secondary victimisation, compensation and restitution, and accountability for implementation. The review finds that many jurisdictions now recognise core entitlements to information, support, participation, privacy, safety, and compensation; nevertheless, empirical and doctrinal research consistently shows that effective protection depends less on formal rights language than on institutional design, independent oversight, legal representation, coordinated services, and trauma-informed practice. Comparative evidence from the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, India, South Africa, and Australia illustrates both convergence and divergence: convergence in the spread of victim charters and codified procedural entitlements, divergence in enforceability, remedies, access to specialist support, and the role granted to victims in adversarial proceedings. The article identifies a key research gap in the literature: while rights proliferation is well documented, fewer studies integrate doctrinal comparison with implementation evidence across jurisdictions and vulnerable victim groups. In response, the paper proposes an analytical framework for evaluating victim-protection legislation according to recognition, accessibility, procedural integration, service coordination, and accountability. It concludes that victim-centred criminal justice requires legislation that is not only rights-affirming, but also operational, monitored, and responsive to victims’ differentiated needs.