London, December 15: Victims of crime in Britain are to be given more rights, including the power to influence sentencing, under a new law proposed by Indian-origin Conservative MP Priti Patel. Patel, the MP for Witham, Essex, has won support from the House of Commons for her Victims of Crime (Code of Practice Bill), the Daily Express reported.
The justice system has to move away from protecting the rights of convicts over their victims, Patel told the house. She said that only one percent of the justice system’s eight billion pounds (around $12.3 billion) a year budget goes towards victims. Everything else is spent on offenders, she said. Statutory rights listed under the new bill include giving victims a voice when someone is charged, and again when they are sentenced. It also proposes a ban on jailed prisoners giving public interviews that could hurt those affected by their crimes. The bill would also “force” authorities to release murder victims’ bodies for burial within 28 days and provide “more specialist emotional and practical support” for bereaved families.
The justice system has to move away from protecting the rights of convicts over their victims, Patel told the house. She said that only one percent of the justice system’s eight billion pounds (around $12.3 billion) a year budget goes towards victims. Everything else is spent on offenders, she said. Statutory rights listed under the new bill include giving victims a voice when someone is charged, and again when they are sentenced. It also proposes a ban on jailed prisoners giving public interviews that could hurt those affected by their crimes. The bill would also “force” authorities to release murder victims’ bodies for burial within 28 days and provide “more specialist emotional and practical support” for bereaved families.