The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), which launched a task force with the goal of protecting and promoting the human rights of crime victims in July 2006 and has been discussing how to reach the goal for more than a year, has recently unveiled its opinion on the Master Plan for the Protection of and Support for Victims of Crime announced by the Ministry of Justice in December 2006.
With the awareness that ways to provide national-level care and support for victims of crime should be sought more expeditiously and with special considerations as compared to other areas, the commission has already taken a range of measures. For example, it addressed the issue in the National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, which was proposed to the president of the nation back in January 2006. The commission has also recommended revisions to related laws on a number of occasions.
The NHRCK task force for victims of crime was initially mandated to review the legislative shortcomings of the Crime Victims Protection Act and produce a proposal for revisions. However, the Ministry of Justice's announcement of the Master Plan for the Protection of and Support for Victims of Crime (hereinafter referred to as the "Master Plan") around the end of 2006 led to a change in the task force's mission. As the Master Plan covered nearly all points of contention that had been discussed as regards the protection of the human rights of crime victims, the commission collected opinions from victims of crime and other crime-related experts and individuals to redefine the mission of the task force: to review the master plan to see if there are any inadequacies or shortcomings and deliver an opinion.
<Content of the Master Plan>
The Master Plan presents a vision for the "guarantee of life with dignity for crime victims," along with three policy objectives for achieving the vision. These are "effective recovery for crime victims," "a more solid status for victims of crime in criminal proceedings," and "protection of crime victims' peaceful private lives." In turn, as a means for achieving the policy objectives, five policy tasks are specified: first, support for the recovery of losses; second, guarantee of crime victims' participation in criminal proceedings; third, safeguarding of crime victims' peaceful private lives and their physical safety; fourth, education and training, research, and PR; and fifth, support for and supervision of relevant private groups and raising and managing funds." Each policy task is accompanied by a more specific action plan.
<Shortcomings of the Master Plan>
The commission regards the Ministry of Justice's formulation of the Master Plan as a positive step forward since the plan provides a comprehensive framework for the national protection of and support for crime victims. However, there are concerns, too. In the process of drafting, finalizing and announcing the Master Plan, the Ministry of Justice listened to related ministries and agencies and employed experts' assessments, but it appears that the ministry failed to collect a broader range of public opinion, including those of crime victims themselves and related people, which could have provided an opportunity for more in-depth and comprehensive examination of the Master Plan in the process of producing it. Furthermore, it seems more than evident that the Master Plan should have given more specific definitions of who should pursue each policy task with a sense of responsibility and ownership. In particular, most policy tasks have no clear timelines, let alone detailed schedules with a staged follow-up.
<Key Points of the NHRCK's Opinion on the Master Plan>
1) Support for Recovery
National and social support to help victims of crime recover from crime-incurred damage and losses takes two forms: short-term support and long-term support. Short-term support is designed to help crime victims overcome the physical and mental/emotional damage caused by the crime, while long-term support aims to provide sustained support until victims of crime can lead a stable social life. For those two types of support to work, the following is needed:
(1) The local community should play a critical role, equipped with a comprehensive support system for crime victims to organically connect with specialized private-sector groups, medical care institutions, law enforcement agencies, and educational institutes in their provision of support to victims of crime;
(2) There should be a stronger one-stop support system to provide prompt support for victims of crime at the initial stages, with more active functions and closer cooperation with other relevant agencies and institutions;
(3) In addition to a short-term support system, a longer-term support system should be in place to provide ongoing treatment and counseling, as well as to help crime victims locate educational and/or employment opportunities;
(4) Provincial and local governments should identify and utilize experts who can play a part in establishing a comprehensive support system. They also need to find the financial means to operate the system. Meanwhile, the national government should support individual sub-central governments so that their support systems may operate efficiently;
(5) Continued surveys and research should be performed in a more systematic manner to better identify damage and losses arising from crime and to help improve the support system; and
(6) In order to pursue more effective short-term and long-term support policies, an organic collaborative network should be woven among the relevant ministries and agencies. More fundamental means of financing should be secured; for example, acquiring a larger budget in closer consultation with the budgeting authority.
2) A More Solid Status for Crime Victims in Criminal Proceedings
In order to strengthen the status of crime victims in criminal proceedings, the following is required:
(1) Taking into account the severity of secondary damage a crime victim suffers in the process of an investigation and trial, it is necessary to seek solutions to such damage. For example, the attendance of a person whom the victim can trust should be guaranteed, the use of video relay services for the examination of witnesses should be available, and in-camera trial proceedings should be used for the protection of victims of crime.
(2) In order to ensure the victim's participation in criminal proceedings, it is imperative to increase victims' right to information. Measures should be taken to strengthen the notification of victims and to practically ensure victims' right to attend court proceedings and their right to view and copy the records of their lawsuits.
(3) In order to ensure procedural legality when a victim of crime participates in criminal proceedings, it is urgent to grant the victim the right to receive the assistance of an attorney in the same manner as the accused or defendant.
3) More Active Support from Private Sector Groups
The role of civic groups is extremely critical in safeguarding victims of crime, and there is thus a need to facilitate civic groups' activities to support victims of crime. To that end, practical and effective financing plans should be set, e.g. providing subsidies for such initiatives. Additionally, the state's supervision should be kept at a minimal level as it may hamper the private sector's autonomous activities.
4) Special Protection of Crime Victims Belonging to Vulnerable Groups
More active protection policy is called for victims of crime whose status in society is relatively vulnerable. In particular, for women, children, people with disabilities, the elderly, foreigners and migrants, special protection with specialized investigation procedures should be sought. As regards victims of family, sexual and school violence, attention should be paid not only to immediate damage but also to any consequential damage that may occur in the wake of the offence. That is, more sensitive and practical support plans should be created for victims of crimes that may result in more enduring and serious consequences. The focus should be placed on how to prepare an effective long-term support system to help such victims better overcome damage from the crime and thereby restore the healthy social life they previously enjoyed.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea was established in 2001, offering investigation and remedy services for Korean citizens and foreigners residing in Korea against human rights violations and discrimination. The Commission provides policy recommendations and remedial action against human rights infringements, collaborates with international human rights organizations and implements educational programs to improve the human rights culture.
