Transcript Chapter Four - Peru State College

Chapter Four
The Civil Justice System and
Victims
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Civil Procedures
• A civil action punishes a person for committing a
private wrong or injury
• Victims of crime turn to civil law in an effort to
obtain redress for injuries not compensated by
the criminal law system
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• Civil law includes a wide variety of subjects
including the following:
– Torts: Injury that does not involve a contract
– Contracts: Violation of an agreement
– Property: Disputes relating to real or personal
property
– Estates: Issues relating to inheritance and probate
– Family: Issues regarding marriage, children, and
divorce
– Civil rights: Injury to another in violation of certain
statutory rights
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Civil Procedures
• Jurisdiction
– The ability of a court to hear and decide issues of law
and fact
• Filing a complaint
– Three essential components
• Establishes the subject matter jurisdiction
• Sets forth facts constituting various causes of
action
• Asks for certain types of relief
• Filing a response
– Types of responses
• An answer with or without affirmative defenses
• A demurrer
• A motion to strike
• Cross-complaint or counterclaim
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• Pretrial activities
– Motions
• Summary judgment
– Discovery
• Depositions
• Interrogatories
• Production of Documents
– Settlement Conferences
• Trial
• Verdict
• Judgment
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Juvenile Court Dependency Procedures
During the process, the parents and the child have
distinct rights which must be observed and
protected
• Notice
• An opportunity to be heard and to present
evidence
• The right to confront and cross-examine witnesses
• Effective representation by an attorney
• Normally initiated by filing a petition
– A formal pleading that alleges that the parents or
custodians endangered the health or welfare of the
child
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• Detention Hearing
– Requires child protective services or police to
produce evidence justifying the emergency removal of
the child, or to present evidence that would allow the
court to order the removal of the child if the child is
still in the custody of the parents
• Adjudicatory or Jurisdictional Hearing
– Used to determine if there is sufficient evidence to
determine that the allegations in the petition are true
• Dispositional Hearing
– To determine where the child should be placed
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Restorative Justice
An alternative to traditional criminal
sanctions imposed on perpetrators by the
state. It is more similar to civil justice
philosophy than current criminal sanction
philosophy. Restorative justice is a
method of making victims whole
emotionally and financially.
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Restorative Justice
• Based on three principles
– All parties should be included in the response
to crime
– Government and local communities’ actions
should compliment each other
– Accountability is based on the offender’s
understanding of the harm that has been
inflicted
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Functioning of a Restorative Justice Program
• Focus on repairing the harm inflicted on the
victim and the community using a process of
negotiation, mediation, victim empowerment,
and reparation
• Believes victims are central to the process of
resolving a crime and offers direct involvement
of the participants in the process
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• Three roles of a restorative justice program
– Accountability
– Competency
– Community Protection
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Victim-Offender Mediation
• Based on mid-1970s Canadian Victim-Offender
Reconciliation Program (VORP)
• Purposes of original VORP were to:
– Provide an alternative method of dealing with crime
– To allow the victim and offender to mutually agree on
restitution
– To use third parties to facilitate reconciliation
– To resolve the conflict caused by crime
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