A Proposal for Law School Victim Legal Advisor Clinics and for the Preparation of Legal System Victim Impact Statements (LSVIS)
Book Chapter. Appeared in Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Victim Participation in Justice: International Perspectives
6 Pages Posted: 16 Jul 2020
Date Written: February 08, 2011
Abstract
One way that victims can better participate in the criminal justice system is if they are accompanied to court by a legally knowledgeable person who can explain the proceedings. This chapter proposes that students affiliated with a law school clinic could ably perform that function. In addition, that role could give the students some counselling experience and sensitize them to the needs of victims. Another proposal of the chapter is that the students could interview the victims and then prepare a Legal System Victim Impact Statement, a statement focusing not on the impact of the crime victim (a matter covered by the traditional Victim Impact Statement) but rather of the impact on the victim of the legal process itself--from the first encounter with the police until the tail end of the process. This type of statement would allow for reform of the system itself, and would produce lawyers sensitive to a therapeutic jurisprudence look at the law.
Keywords: Therapeutic jurisprudence, restorative justice, victims, crime victims, legal system victim impact statements
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