If a Person Breaks a Criminal Law, Is the Victim’s Statutory Rights Infringed?
Question by constantine7337: If a person breaks a criminal law, is the victim’s statutory rights infringed?
I need to know if a statutory right is broken if a criminal law is broken. Is a criminal law considered a statutory right?
Best answer:
Answer by Bob B
Depends exactly on what sort of crime has occured. If it’s something like an assault or murder, then yes, the victim’s rights are definitely infringed. Because of this, the victim basically has the right to sue a criminal for damages if they so choose (this actually happened to OJ Simpson after the criminal proceedings failed), although as this is expensive and you may have to pay the other side’s legal fees if you lose, it is rarely done, and when it is, it is usually only if criminal proceedings fail or the police decide not to investigate the crime.
Some crimes, however, such as drug possession or prostitution, do not necessarily have a direct victim, and are called “victimless crimes”. They can sometimes lead to controversy because they don’t actually harm anyone (at least in theory).
Regardless of the crime, however, in a criminal prosecution in court, the crime is legally considered to be against society as a whole, rather than the victim, which is why such cases are written as “R vs (the criminal)”, or whatever the country in question’s equivalent is. “R” stands for the state.
If the victim sues the criminal in a civil case, then the crime is considered to be against the victim.