Comparative Law Criminal Law Law

Victims as Agents of State Accountability: A Comparative and Normative Analysis

By Marie Manikis
New Arrival Oxford University Press February 2026

Specifications

ISBN-13
9780198885313
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Publication
February 2026
Format
Hardback
Jurisdiction
U.K. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

While prevailing accounts of victim participation often frame victims as holders of primarily private interests, victims in common law jurisdictions have increasingly emerged as active public participants in criminal justice systems.

With a comparative focus on England and Wales and the United States, Victims as Agents of State Accountability recharacterizes victims as agents of accountability in state decision-making. Through historical, empirical, and case-based analysis, this book advances a normative framework that positions the victim's role as a civic duty, enhancing transparency, legitimacy, and substantive equality in prosecutorial decisions. Accordingly, mechanisms of state accountability are examined, such as private prosecutions, judicial review, and internal review schemes, illustrating how their potential for accountability differs depending on whether victims are recognised as advancing primarily public or private interests. Case studies demonstrate the limits of conceiving victim interests as private and the possibilities of substantive assessments of prosecutorial decisions when interests are understood as public.

Ultimately, the book contributes to debates in criminal law and justice by proposing an accountability role that is reflexive and equality-driven. Its comparative and normative insights provide guidance for common law jurisdictions and beyond, highlighting the importance of recognising victims as legitimate participants in shaping the public interest and holding the state accountable within criminal justice.

Table of Contents

Part I. Preliminary Considerations and the Conceptualization of Victim Participation
1:Introduction
2:A Typology of Victim Participation Across Private–Public Conceptions
3:An Additional Role for Victims: Conceptualizing State Fallibilities and Accountability

Part II. Comparative Perspectives: Victims as Agents of State Accountability
4:A Predominantly Public and Evolving Conception in the English Common Law Tradition
5:From Citizens to Private Entities: Towards a Private Conception of State Accountability in England and Wales
6:The Abandonment and Evolving Legacies of the English Common Law in the United States
7:A Private and Novel Conception Under the United States’ Federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act

Part III. Towards a Normative Framework
8:Strengthening the Citizen-Victim’s Role Within a Public Conception: A Normative Framework of State Accountability
9:Conclusion
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