Victims’ Rights on the Island of Ireland

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Victims of crime have historically suffered from obscurity: relegated to serving the criminal justice system rather than having that system serve their needs. This started to change on the island of Ireland in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries and continued apace under the aegis of the EU. Following the UK’s exit from the EU (Brexit), new opportunities and challenges have emerged in this field. This paper, part of the ARINS project, charts the emergence of victims of crime as a key focus of the criminal justice systems on the island of Ireland, critically explores the protections afforded to them within these systems, and outlines some emerging issues following Brexit. It thus explores a comparatively under-discussed area in this context.