The role of the victim of crime in the modern criminal justice system is becoming increasingly important. From the legal and criminological perspective, the Master’s thesis discusses the victim’s rights, which enable him to actively participate in the criminal procedure. Understanding of procedural rights of the victim is not uniform in theory nor in practice. It namely touches the heart of the criminal justice system and expresses a view on its fundamental functions.
Strong position of the victim in the Slovenian legal system is on one hand a Yugoslav heritage. This includes the victim’s right to participate in the criminal procedure and contribute to the procedural material. On the other hand, the law of the European Union and Council of Europe is also seeking to strengthen the role and position of victims of crime. The thesis addresses the question if the Slovenian regulation has reached or even exceeded the standards of the common European regulation. The final part of the thesis presents different theoretical and practical perspectives on procedural rights of the victim. It discusses different intensities of the inclusion of victims into the criminal procedure and wonders whether a too strong position of the victim could interfere with the fundamental principles of criminal procedure.
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