Chapter 2 Victims in the Criminal Justice Process
Under the victim participation system, the court may allow the victim or others to participate in the proceedings of the case by a ruling of the court, to appear on the trial dates, to state an opinion on the fact-finding or the application of law, and to ask the defendant questions for the purpose of stating such opinion.
Table 6-2-1 shows the status of victim participation in trials at the courts of first instance.
Table 6-2-1 Victim participation at the courts of first instance
Separately from the aforementioned victim participation, the court is to allow the victim to state an opinion. The court may apply measures for witness protection at a trial, such as placing a shield in front of the witness, allowing the witness to stay in a separate room and communicate by video-link with the courtroom during his/her testimony, and/or allowing the witness to be accompanied by an appropriate person.
As another protective measure, the court, upon request, may render a ruling providing that the name, address or other matters of the victims or witnesses shall not be disclosed in an open court.
A civil settlement reached with the offender could become an enforceable title of obligation if the terms of the settlement are included in the trial record of the criminal case. Additionally, a court hearing a criminal case concerning a specific serious offense may, upon request by the victim of the crime, continue with the civil case by using the record of the criminal case after the conviction and render a compensation order.
In addition, in general, courts allow victims to inspect and copy case records.
Table 6-2-2 shows the status of such measures applied to victims or witnesses.
Table 6-2-2 Applied measures for victims/witnesses
