Review article
https://doi.org/10.31141/zrpfs.2023.60.150.779
Continuity of victim protection in the criminal and civil justice system: prevention of secondary victimization in the light of the latest amendments to the Law on civil procedure before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Kanita Pruščanović
; Univerzitet u Sarajevu, Pravni fakultet
Anisa Ruhotina
orcid.org/0009-0003-6684-7343
; Univerzitet u Sarajevu, Pravni fakultet
Abstract
This paper addresses the issue of continuity in victim protection in the criminal and civil justice
system. From a victimological perspective, the position of the victim is primarily considered in
the context of criminal justice. However, in situations where a certain event is relevant from the
perspective of both criminal and civil law, the issue of victim protection should be observed not only
in criminal justice, but also in the civil justice system. In this regard, it is necessary to extend victim
protection measures from criminal to the subsequent civil proceedings, in order to ensure continuity
of protection, thereby also preventing the protection provided in criminal proceedings from losing
its meaning in subsequent civil proceedings.
The most comprehensive form of victim protection in criminal proceedings is the identity
protection measure during, or even for a certain period after the end of the proceedings. In order
to ensure the same protection in later civil proceedings, i.e. to prevent secondary victimization, the
replication of the identity protection measure in the civil procedure has been considered. In the light
of the above considerations, the issue of victim protection goes beyond the limits of the criminal
justice system, becoming a common interest of both the criminal and civil justice system.
The Law on Amendments to the Law on Civil Procedure before the Court of Bosnia and
Herzegovina of 2021, for the first time in our region, and even wider, implemented crime victim
protection provisions in the civil justice system. A special procedure concerning the exercise of the
rights of persons who have been provided with identity protection measures was thus established.
Therefore, this paper not only focuses on this special procedure but also on the wider context of
the position and protection of victims of crime in the criminal and civil justice system, combining
observations from the perspective of criminal law, victimology, as well as civil law.
Keywords
victim protection; witness identity protection in criminal proceedings; party identity protection in civil proceedings; procedural protection measures; litigation proceeding concerning the exercise of the rights of persons who have been provided with identity protection measures
Hrčak ID:
311846
URI
Publication date:
20.12.2023.
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