Please - Odhikar

V ictims and witnesses protection:
Some preliminary thoughts
By Jesmul Hasan*, Bangladesh
Avictim means a person who has, directly or indirectly, suffered harm, physical or mental,
or to his/her property, as a result of commission of any offence/crime punishable under
the law of the State. Victims do not include individuals only it may include
organizations. A witness is the person before whose eyes the offence takes place or who has
information or knowledge of the offence and is ready to testify about it before any court or
investigating authority.
Victims and witness protection for administration of justice
Providing protection to victims and witnesses of a crime is important for ensuring administration
of justice. Administration of justice means upholding of 'right' and punishment of 'wrong'. A
victim is a person whose right is violated by a wrong committed by an offender. Both victims
and witnesses play important role in administration of justice. Upholding the rights of victims is
done by trial and adjudication of the offence. But what happens when the trial goes on and final
adjudication takes time? During this period, providing protection to victims and witnesses is
important. A victim has already been wronged once for which trial of a case takes place.
However, before that, if there is apprehension that victim might be wronged again during trial,
extending protection to him/her is part of the total process of administration of justice.
According to the definition provided by Salmond, administration of justice means maintenance
of right within a political community by means of force of the State. What does it mean by
maintenance of right of a person whose right has already been violated? It means returning to the
victim his/her right either directly or providing him/her compensation or punishment of wrong
done against him/her. During the process, the victims and witnesses may be in the face of further
vengeance from the wrongdoer. That is why providing protection to them is important for
ensuring administration of justice.
In modern States, justice is administered by courts according to law. If the law of the land does
not provide protection to victims and witnesses, courts do not have options to ensure protection
to victims and witnesses. Here comes the issue of protecting victims and witnesses for de facto
rule of law.
Victims and witness protection for rule of law
According to A.V. Dicey, rule of law means (1) absence of arbitrary power i.e. no man is above
law; (2) equality before law i.e. every man is subject to law and jurisdiction of courts; (3)
individual liberties. If the law of the country does not provide protection to victims and
witnesses, that law cannot ensure individual liberties as an element of rule of law. If the
perpetrator or offender of a crime remains beyond the hands of law and/or jurisdiction of courts
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Report 2005