Evaluatie wet uitbreiding spreekrecht slachtoffers en nabestaanden in het strafproces

Abstract

Dit onderzoek betreft een empirische evaluatie van een van de slachtofferrechten: het onbelemmerde spreekrecht. Slachtoffers mogen zich sinds juli 2016 onbelemmerd uitlaten over de onderwerpen die zij graag willen bespreken. Zij mogen zich dus over de gevolgen van het misdrijf, maar ook over de schuld van de verdachte, het bewijs, de op te leggen sanctie en hoe zij het strafproces ervaren. Deze evaluatie is erop gericht om te onderzoeken in welke mate de uitbreiding van het spreekrecht tegemoet is gekomen aan de behoefte van slachtoffers om zich meer te uiten. Daarnaast is het doel te achterhalen of het onbelemmerde spreekrecht negatieve effecten heeft. De centrale onderzoeksvraag in dit evaluatieonderzoek is: Wat is het verloop van en hoe zijn de ervaringen met het onbelemmerd spreekrecht? INHOUD Introductie Literatuuronderzoek Rechtbankobservaties Slachtofferverklaringen en vonnissen Vragenlijstonderzoek Interviews met professionals Interviews slachtoffers Conclusie en discussie

The current study concerns an empirical evaluation of one of the victims' rights: the unrestricted Victim Impact Statement (VIS). This research focuses on the oral VIS. The VIS was introduced in a limited form in 2005, where victims were only allowed to speak about the consequences of the crime they experienced. Earlier evaluations of that form of the VIS showed that it was not sufficient for a certain group of victims, which led to them not exercising their right. In addition, there was disparity between district courts regarding the limits which were applied to victims exercising their right to speak; some speakers were already allowed to express themselves freely. For these reasons, the VIS was expanded and, since July 2016, victims have been allowed to speak freely on the topics they would like to put forward during the court hearing. This means that they not only are allowed to speak about the consequences of the crime, but also about the guilt of the accused, the punishment, the criminal process and the facts of the crime. The current evaluation aims to examine to what extent the expansion of the VIS has met the need of victims to express themselves more extensively. In addition, the aim is to find out whether the unrestricted VIS has any negative effects. Also, it is aimed to examine to what extent the legal objective of the right Vis is being met, i.e.: to make a start at repairing victims' emotional damage.The central research question is: What is the course of and what are the experiences with the unrestricted Victim Impact Statement?