Book Review: Victims of Crime in Twenty-Two European Criminal Justice Systems
| Author | Jo Goodey |
| DOI | 10.1177/026975800100800304 |
| Published date | 01 September 2001 |
| Date | 01 September 2001 |
International
Review
ofVictimology,
2001,
Vol.
8,
pp.291-315
0269-7580/01
$10
© A B
Academic
Publishers
-Printed
in
Great
Britain
BOOK
REVIEWS
VICTIMS
OF
CRIME
IN
TWENTY-
TWO
EUROPEAN
CRIMINAL
JUSTICE
SYSTEMS
Marion
Brienen
and
Ernestine
Hoegen.
Wolf
Legal
Publications:
Nijmegen,
The
Netherlands.
2000
pp.
1,178.
ISBN
90
5850
004
7.
£35;
£45
To
be
asked
to
review a
book
which
numbers
1178
pages
of
single
spaced
text,
encompassing
the
legislation
and
criminal justice practices of
twenty-two
Euro-
pean
jurisdictions,
is
no
easy
task.
However,
the
job of reviewer
was
made
easier
given
the
overall quality of
Brienen
and
Hoegen's impressive
text.
The
book
is
the
result of a research initiative
by
Tilburg
University
and
the
Dutch
Ministry of Justice
to
undertake a comparative cross-national
study
exam-
ining
the
implementation of Council of
Europe
Recommendation
(85)
11
on
the
'Position of
the
Victim
in
the
Famework of Criminal
Law
and
Procedure'.
Brienen
and
Hoegen
were
the
researchers
employed
to
collate
and
review
the
'law
in
the
books'
and
the
'law
in
practice',
with
respect
to
victim-centred
initiatives,
in
those
jurisdictions
which
were
members
of
the
Council of Europe
when
the
Recommendation
was
first
adopted
in
1985.
The
central
aims
of the
research
and,
hence
the
book,
are
presented
as:
(1)
to
acquire
knowledge
of
the
state of affairs
in
the
different
member
states;
the
legal
rights
of,
and
oppor-
tunities
for,
victims of
crime
within criminal proceedings;
(2)
cross-national
assessment of
the
impact of Recommendation
(85)
11
or,
at
least,
its
'range of
thought'.
Generally,
the
research,
as
evidenced
by
the
content of
the
book,
appears
to
have
achieved
these
ambitious
aims.
The
Book's Content
1985
was
a benchmark year
for
victims of
crime:
the
UN
Declaration of
Basic
Principles of Justice
for
Victims
of Crime
and
Abuse
of
Power
and
Council
of
Europe
Recommendation
(85)
11
were
adopted.
Comparing
the
two
documents,
the
book's authors
note
that
the
Council of
Europe
Recommendation
presents
more
concrete guidelines,
ranged
over sixteen
points,
which
detail
how
the
criminal justice components of
member
states
ought
to
respond
to
victims
of
crime.
In
tum, these guidelines
are
adapted
for
the
purpose
of the book's research
agenda
and
broken
down
into
three broad
themes
that
set
out
to
examine
the
nature
and
extent of each jurisdiction's compliance
with
the
Recommendation.
The
three
themes
encompass: (
1)
provision of
information
to
victims;
(2)
oppor-
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