Conceptualising the Victim in England and Wales and the United States within a Spectrum of Public and Private Interests

Abstract

The conception of the victim in criminal justice systems has changed across history and legal systems. A framework that considers the private and public along a spectrum and offers nuances between private and public interests illuminates the ways victims have been conceived within mechanisms of participation in various criminal justice systems and the ways they can oscillate and have oscillated within these categories. This article argues that in England and Wales, victims have been conceived as citizens with both private and predominantly public roles and interests, while in the United States, they have been conceptualised as actors that hold predominantly private interests. Nuances within mechanisms of victim participation that challenge the rigidity of the public/private divide within those jurisdictions are accounted for and discussed.

Keywords: victims, participation, public–private interests, comparative law