Victims of criminal offenses: Their needs, rights and respect in practice

• Pages: 13-23

23

Vol. 9 No.2

September, 2023

Balkan Journal of

Interdisciplinary Research

E-ISSN 2411-9725

ISSN 2410-759X

Victims of criminal oenses: Their needs, rights and respect in practice

Dr. Ela Kerka

University of Tirana, Albania

DOI: hps://doi.org/10.2478/bjir-2023-0003

Abstract

While the situation of crime victims is analyzed by law enforcement ocers, victims of human

rights violations deserve special aention due to the very fact that these violations were

‘performed’ by the state, through its ocial employee or a person who acts in the capacity

of an ocial. This fact does not in any way change the right of the victims to be treated with

kindness and respect, nor does it aect their right to benet from justice mechanisms and to

have immediate solutions.

It should be understood that such a violation of individual rights commied by or with the

consent of a state ocial, can seriously damage the relationship between citizens and the State.

The outcome of law enforcement, in terms of the current condition of law and order, depends

on the existence of good relations with the public. When law enforcement ocers carry out

practices that contradict the rights and freedoms of the individual, the very link between the

organism as a whole and the community is endangered.

Trust and security are two conditions for fruitful communication and cooperation between

the community and the law enforcement body. When trust and security are weakened due

to the illegal and arbitrary behavior of law enforcement ocers, the quality of cooperation

and communication is also weakened. Special care should be taken for the victims of such

violations so that the occasional incidents do not have devastating consequences on the image

and work of the entire law enforcement organization.

Keywords: cooperation, resocialization, community, power, victim.

1. Introduction

All over the world, the interest in crime has been very primeval, treating it widely in

theory through the issuance of laws, but the interest and treatment of crime victims

are relatively new. The treatment of this problem is justied by the actuality itself,

society’s concern for the victim, and his protection. On the other hand, it is presented

as a need of the time to study in relation to the issues related to the crime victim and

Research Article

© 2023 Ela Kerka

This is an open access article licensed under the Creative Commons

Aribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

(hps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)