Victim Personal Statements in Managing Victims' Voices in Sentencing in Northern Ireland: Taking a More Procedural Justice Approach

Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 2017

Queen's University Belfast Law Research Paper No. 2019-09

27 Pages Posted: 30 Oct 2017 Last revised: 2 Apr 2019

See all articles by Luke Moffett

Luke Moffett

Queen's University Belfast - School of Law

Date Written: October 29, 2017

Abstract

Victim Personal Statements (VPS) have been introduced in a number common law criminal justice systems. Although VPS have been espoused as important in ensuring victims’ ‘voices’ are ‘heard’ in sentencing, this article examines the extend of improving victim satisfaction and procedural justice in Northern Ireland. In light of increasing juridification of victim participation through VPS by the EU and the English Court of Appeals its impact on sentencing has mixed views amongst victims, intermediaries and legal practitioners. Drawing from 24 interviews with judges, lawyers and intermediaries, this article finds that greater attention should be paid to vulnerable victims’ inclusion and for judges to better articulate the value VPS have in sentencing and the significance of such statements in acknowledging the victim’s experience, rather than engendering harsher sentences.

Keywords: victims, sentencing, victim participation, procedural justice

Suggested Citation

Moffett, Luke, Victim Personal Statements in Managing Victims' Voices in Sentencing in Northern Ireland: Taking a More Procedural Justice Approach (October 29, 2017). Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 2017, Queen's University Belfast Law Research Paper No. 2019-09, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3061420

Luke Moffett (Contact Author)

Queen's University Belfast - School of Law ( email )

School of Law
Main Site Town, University Square
Belfast, BT 7 1NN
United Kingdom

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
64
Abstract Views
520
Rank
622,763
PlumX Metrics