What Has the ECHR Done for Victims? A United Kingdom Perspective

Abstract

This paper assesses the extent to which the European Convention on Human Rights creates rights for victims within the criminal justice process in terms of both rights to information and procedural rights. It concludes that the right to investigation and information, as set out in Jordan, does cement certain standards to which an investigation must conform in terms of victim information provision and involvement, but that these can only be described as very basic minimum standards. In terms of obtaining reasons for decisions not to prosecute, the incorporation of the ECHR into UK domestic law has not yet resulted in a comprehensive right to obtain reasons for decisions not to prosecute. Indeed, any rights involved are derived from Article 2, the right to life, and Article 3, the right to freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment, and so will not affect the vast majority of victims, who are victims of lesser crimes. In terms of procedural rights, the impact of the ECHR to date is even more limited and, in the case of victim involvement in sentencing, may in fact serve to limit victim input, rather than expand it. This and other potential conflicts between the rights of the accused and the rights of the victim are discussed.