Slides from a presentation delivered at Hatfield College, University of Durham.

1. Using victim personal statements to inject
restorative principles into criminal
sentencing: potential and pitfalls.
Louise Taylor
6th November 2013

2. Victim Personal Statements – an
overview
• Introduced across England and Wales in October
2001 to give victims a voice and place them at
the heart of the criminal justice system.
• Provision of an enhanced service under the
Victim Focus Scheme for families bereaved by
homicide.
• The VPS allows victims to outline the impact of
the crime upon them in a written statement to
police.
• The statement is added to the case papers and
made available to the sentencer for
consideration once a guilty verdict has been
reached.
• Disclosed to the defence.

3. In support of Victim Personal Statements:
The EU Victims Directive (2012/29/EU)
• Adopted in October 2012.
• Article 10 – ‘Member States shall
ensure that victims may be heard
during criminal proceedings and
may provide evidence.’
• Article 27 – ‘Member States shall
bring into force the laws,
regulations and administrative
provisions necessary to comply with
this Directive by 16 November
2015.’

4. In support of Victim Personal Statements:
Improving the Code of Practice for Victims of
Crime Consultation 2013
• To give full effect to the Directive
the Government has proposed to
include reference to the Victim
Personal Statement Scheme within
their proposed Revised Code of
Practice.
• The proposed Revised Code extends
the scheme to include Community
Impact Statements (para 50-51)
and Impact Statements for
Businesses (para 53-55).

5. What is the purpose of Victim Personal
Statements?
• Para 42 of Improving the Code of Practice for Victims of
Crime Consultation:
‘The primary purpose of the VPS is to give victims a voice in the
criminal justice process and criminal proceedings when a case goes
to court. The legal purpose of the VPS is to give an accurate
picture of the impact of the offence on the victim which can
then be taken into account when sentencing the relevant offender.
It can also be used to inform bail decisions.’

6. Restorative Potential of VPS
• Erez suggests that VPS can:
– Provide an opportunity for court supervised communication of
victim harm to the offender.
– Provide an opportunity for victim healing and empowerment.
– Provide offenders with a true picture of the harm their offending
has caused which may encourage them to apologise.
– Open up lines of communication between victims and offenders.

7. Possible pitfalls
• Low victim participation rates
• Victims being allowed to unduly influence sentencing outcomes.
• Rising then dashing victims’ expectations
• Vengeful victims

8. Some concluding thoughts…
• Restorative justice does not need to be an ‘all-or-nothing’
alternative to criminal justice; it can be appropriately injected into
the existing justice system.
• The restorative potential of victim personal statements needs
further exploration. This should be clearly spelled out to
practitioners in any new guidance on the scheme.
• The main arguments levied against victim participation through
victim personal statements are not supported by the empirical
research.

9. References:
• Doak, J., and O’Mahony, D., ‘The Vengeful Victim? Assessing the
Attitudes of Victims Participating in Restorative Youth Conferencing.’
(2006) 13(2) International Review of Victimology 157.
• EU Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the
rights, support and protection of victim of crime.
• Erez, E., ‘Integrating restorative justice principles in adversarial
proceedings through victim impact statements’ in: Ed Cape (ed.),
‘Reconcilable rights?.’ Legal Action Group, London, 2004.
• Ministry of Justice, ‘Improving the Code of Practice for Victims of
Crime Consultation.’ London, 2013.
• Roberts, J. V., and Manikis, M., ‘Victim Personal Statements: A
Review of Empirical Research.’ Ministry of Justice, London, 2011.

10. References:
• Doak, J., and O’Mahony, D., ‘The Vengeful Victim? Assessing the
Attitudes of Victims Participating in Restorative Youth Conferencing.’
(2006) 13(2) International Review of Victimology 157.
• EU Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the
rights, support and protection of victim of crime.
• Erez, E., ‘Integrating restorative justice principles in adversarial
proceedings through victim impact statements’ in: Ed Cape (ed.),
‘Reconcilable rights?.’ Legal Action Group, London, 2004.
• Ministry of Justice, ‘Improving the Code of Practice for Victims of
Crime Consultation.’ London, 2013.
• Roberts, J. V., and Manikis, M., ‘Victim Personal Statements: A
Review of Empirical Research.’ Ministry of Justice, London, 2011.