NCJ Number
219631
Date Published
November 2006
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This article, part 2 of 2, provides an overview of the portrayal of victim protection under German criminal procedure law.
Abstract
The analysis focuses on the possibilities available to victims for claiming material and immaterial compensation, including financial and psychological assistance outside of criminal proceedings. Overall, German criminal law is taking more victim rights into account and legislation is increasingly integrating victims protection into criminal procedure law. Deficits remain, however, particularly in the area of sexual delinquency and therapeutic work with adolescents. In order to obtain material compensation under the law, victims must submit damage compensation claims based on damages arising from criminal offenses. In these cases, the victim has the burden of proof but the criminal proceedings provide several possibilities for taking into account the victims’ civil law claims, including compensation prior to filing criminal charges, compensation in the main proceeding, and compensation in the framework of execution of a sentence. Also recently taken into account in German criminal law are immaterial compensation, which has been organized under the assumption that it is important that there are at least symbolic acts of damage reparation by the offender and acknowledgment of the victim’s role in criminal justice proceedings. German criminal law now incorporates offender-victim mediation and student arbitration boards. If victims’ material or immaterial compensation is not satisfied within the German criminal courts, victims may seek reparations outside of the criminal proceedings through the Victims’ Compensation Act and Victims’ Assistance Agencies.