VICTIM RIGHTS ARE ALSO HUMAN RIGHTS ------------------------------------------------- Dr. Beulah Shekhar, Faculty, Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli,

The present system does not adequately focus on justice to the victims. The formal criminal justice system directs its attention primarily toward the offender, first with regard to guilt or innocence and second with regard to appropriate punishment, treatment, or monitoring. The informal justice system is often an abstract and distant concern. So, the victims have been repeatedly neglected as stakeholders in both formal and informal justice approaches, it is important to give special attention to their role in the criminal justice system. Presenting the report to Deputy Prime Minister L.K.Advani, who held the home portfolio. Malimath said the changes were proposed for the first time in 150 years. He also recommended that from now on, criminal laws be reviewed every 15 years so that they are in tune with the “changing times”. The “Criminal justice system is virtually collapsing under its own weight as it is slow, inefficient and ineffective” due to which “people are losing confidence in the system”, the report said.
The present system of the prosecution have to prove the guilt of an accused “places a very unreasonable burden on the prosecution”, the committee said in its report and recommended that in India, like in the continental countries, a “clear and convincing” standard of proof should be statutorily prescribed. For example, ministers and other VIPs caught with wads of currency notes on their premises during raids need not come under the category of “presumed to be innocent till proved guilty beyond reasonable doubts”. International scenario: Against a backdrop of greater awareness of human rights, calls for national