Administration of justice is the first promise of our Constitution. For achieving this end, courts have been established. Since the dawn of civilization, crime has been existing in our society. For curbing criminality, criminal law courts have been established. In the administration of justice, much focus has been on the rights of the accused. It seems trial starts with the accused and ends with the accused. The role of victim has been neglected in the process of administration of justice. It is only during the last few years that the role of victim in the judicial administration has been highlighted. At the national level, the Malimath Committee Report plays an important role in highlighting the role of the victim in the criminal administration of justice. It has been pointed out that to make the role of the victim more proactive, many steps need to be taken. There is a dire need for reformation of the criminal law in our country so that the victim is not taken as a forgotten identity. This paper mainly focuses on the position of the victims of crime in the whole criminal justice delivery system.

Administration of justice is the first and foremost duty of an orderly and civilized state. However, when we speak of the criminal justice administration, what we usually mean is the complex decision network devoted to the prevention and control of traditional crimes in our society.1 In other words, criminal justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts.2 The criminal justice administration mainly consists of three components: police, courts, and correctional administration. For the smooth functioning of the criminal justice system, all these components have to work together for maintaining the rule of law in the society.

The term ‘police’ includes all investigating agencies directly or indirectly involved in identifying and apprehending the suspects and accused persons. The word ‘court’ includes all courts from the trial court to the apex court of the land. The expression ‘correctional administration’ refers not only to the traditional form of punishment, i.e.,sentencing, but includes all other kinds of reformations and rehabilitations.3 Law on crimes has always discouraged the acts or omissions which in general affect right in rem and offenders have always been punished with strict sanctions. However, the crime rate is not falling and the state is in a regular quest to preserve social solidarity and peace in the society. The initial focus of criminologists and penologists was only on the aspect of punishment but the focus started shifting when they encountered the fact that the person who is a victim of crime is getting nothing out of the whole process of criminal justice system or is getting only the so-called ‘satisfaction’ on seeing the offender punished by the state. Therefore, jurists and penologists all over the world started giving their full attention to the rights of the victims in the form of compensation.4 This paper mainly focuses on the position of the victims of crime in the whole criminal justice delivery system.

Law Review Journal, Criminal Justice, Administration, India: Focus on the Victims of Crime.