Book Review of Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Victim Participation in Justice: International Perspectives

Debarati Halder

National Law School of India University, India

Abstract:

Therapeutic jurisprudence has become an essential concept in the modern understandings of the litigant-defendant relationship. Traditional methods of victimization have undergone massive changes in the past decades. This has in many societies outsmarted the police and prosecution, made the victims less reliant on the police and criminal justice system and highlighted defendant's rights reducing the victims as mere witnesses. As such, the need of the hour is to train the constituting instruments of criminal justice systems, namely the police, the advocates and the judges to approach this delicate issue from the victim's point of views. Victims are the key instruments of court systems in every civilized society. The need of the victims therefore gains more importance than anything else in the present day context. Criminal justice actors including the police, the advocates and the judges need to act as therapists to heal the harm done to the victims while balancing the defendant's rights. The book "Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Victim Participation in Justice" is one fine source of understanding various methods which may be applied in victim justice issues. This edited book is a conglomeration of ideas and suggested methods of therapeutic jurisprudence and victim participation in it from transborder jurisdictions written by professionals from various countries. The editors, veterans in the subjects themselves, have thoughtfully divided the book into four sections; victim participations, victim and the law, restorative and transitional justice, and controversies and limits.

Keyword:

victim participations, victim and the law, restorative and transitional justice, and controversies and limits.