Abstract
The present study attempts to address the question of how victim notification influences the relationship between victims and the criminal justice system. It examines empirically the effects of victim notification on their satisfaction with the performance of the public prosecution, their feelings of obligation to obey the law and law-abiding behavior. It does so by reporting the results of a survey that was conducted as part of the evaluation of new measures to improve the position of victims within the criminal justice system, which are currently being introduced in the Netherlands. Procedures that allow the passive participation of victims in the criminal justice procedure are judged to be more fair than procedures which exclude victims. Moreover, how victims are treated by the prosecution has a significant impact on their subsequent attitudes towards authorities and their law abiding behaviour. Following a review of the literature concerning the impact of victim participation in the criminal justice system and a description of recent developments in the treatment of victims in the Dutch criminal procedure, the method and results of the present study are described. The paper closes with a discussion of the findings and their implications for victim policy.
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