Law Commons^™

Compensation For Victims Of Crime: Trends And Outlooks, Richard Murphy

Dalhousie Law Journal

Modem day western society has only recently begun to pay attention to the plight of the innocent victims of crime. Statutes have been enacted to provide financial compensation to a victim, his dependents or someone responsible for his maintenance, for the suffering and losses that invariably follow from acts of violence. The two basic aims of compensation have been identified as the need to sustain public trust (in that societies core values should be protected) and the desire to demonstrate a concern for individual rights and well being.1 In this paper I shall examine the historical outlook on these compensation …