ABSTRACT
The second part of this book has shown that, while the absence of a discourse of victims’ rights has made little difference to the provision of services to victims outside the criminal justice system, such as support and compensation, it has impeded the empowerment of victims within the system itself. Drawing on the views of critical victimologists that victims’ agency must be harnessed in devising strategies for change, such as victims’ rights (see Chapter 2), part two of the book has contended that the recognition of such rights is necessary in order to enhance the quality of victims’ experiences of the criminal justice system. This chapter provides a synopsis of the primary conclusions reached in part two and delineates the contours of a victims’ rights model that it contends ought to inform the criminal process.
