Money, money, money

I was reading an article about the rights that victims of crime have in terms of getting compensated after they have been to court. In this article, and the poll on the side of the post, there was the general sentiment that money simply wasn’t going to cut it. Maybe this speaks to a feeling that sometimes being able to buy your stuff back, or getting some money for your taxi fare doesn’t take away the feeling of violation that comes with a crime. There is a need for something more to help with the feelings that you might feel, or to achieve justice for you, and that support might not come from money.

Nevertheless, they say that you should never look a gift horse in the mouth, and if you do have the opportunity for compensation then of course you should use it. If you have a look at our resources section you’ll see both of the SALC papers on this issue. At the moment, there isn’t very much law that allows victims of crime to be compensated but there is one piece that is worth discussing.

The criminal procedures act makes a space for the victims of crime to be compensated. Regarding compensation, the court may order the convicted person to compensate (Section 300 of the Criminal Procedure Act) the complainant for costs incurred as a result of the crime, including medical expenses, housing, counselling, replacement of destroyed property and wages lost due to attending court proceedings.

Many people don’t know about this and this can have devastating consequences. The technical details about this clause might still best be explained by a lawyer but what this does give you is some sort of discussion point with your own lawyer, or when planning what to do after you have been a victim of crime. The most important thing here is that you report your crime because otherwise you don’t have the opportunity of working with the court on getting that compensation.

What do you think? If money isn’t everything, what do we need for the victims of crime to be empowered?