The Victim in the Irish Criminal Process

This book interrogates the position of the victim of the criminal justice system in Ireland. It assesses how increasing accommodation of victim interests impacts on the criminal justice system and the extent to which these changes depart from classic ideas of justice. Concern for crime victims has been a growing political issue in improving the legitimacy and success of the criminal justice system through the rhetoric of rights. Since the 1970s there have been numerous reforms and policy documents produced to enhance victims' satisfaction in the criminal justice system. Ireland has seen a sea-change in more recent years from a focus on services for victims to a greater emphasis on procedural rights. The purpose of this book is to chart these reforms against the backdrop of wider political and regional changes emanating from the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, and to critically examine whether the position of crime victims has actually improved. The book begins by discussing the historical and theoretical concern for crime victims in the criminal justice system, and how this has changed in recent years. It then moves on to examine the variety of forms of legal and service provision for victims in the Irish system, concluding with an analysis of the practical obstacles to the full realisation of victims' rights.