Witness Protection and Victim Participation in the Indian Criminal Justice System: a Critical Study of Legal and Institutional Mechanisms
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Abstract
This paper critically reviews the emergence of witness protection and participation or co-operation of the victim in the criminal justice system in India with major emphasis on the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018, and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. This study utilises secondary legal and academic sources to analyse the constitutional protections, statutes, judicial developments and institutional mechanisms. It points to systemic issues like witness intimidation, delays in the process, lack of resources within institutions, lack of awareness, trauma and inequity in access to justice. The paper points out that just “being” a protected object is not enough for protection to be effective. To improve the criminal justice system in India, the institutions need to be better coordinated, involve victims in the process, strengthen threat assessment, create specialised agencies and hold them accountable, and compensate victims.
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