Regarding the litigation status of criminal victims, the provisions of countries around the world are not the same. The status of criminal victims in Britain and America is low. In Britain, victims participate in criminal proceedings. Although the victim has the right to sue in principle, except for some crimes, most cases were initiated by the police before the implementation of 1985 Criminal Procedure Law. Article 395 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the former Federal Republic of Germany stipulates that: in minor criminal proceedings, the victim may propose to merge with the public prosecution as a participant at any stage of the proceedings, even after the judgment, so as to appeal. After merging with a public prosecution case, participants can appeal independently regardless of the public prosecutor's opinion. Judging from the above provisions, although countries give victims different litigation rights and obligations according to their own specific conditions, it has become a major trend in criminal proceedings all over the world to attach importance to the protection of criminal victims' rights.
The revised Criminal Procedure Law promotes the status of criminal victims from participants to parties and gives them a series of litigation rights.
Among them, the general provisions increase the right of the victim to apply for withdrawal and the right to entrust an agent ad litem to participate in the proceedings. At the stage of filing a case, the victim has the right to report the infringed facts and the perpetrator, and has the right to request that the alleged behavior be kept confidential; Refused to accept the decision not to file a case, on the basis of the original procedural law that the victim has the right to apply for reconsideration, measures to ensure the exercise of this right have been added.
In the investigation stage, it is added that minor victims have the right to ask their legal representatives to be present when they are interrogated; The victim has the right to apply for supplementary appraisal and re-appraisal. In the stage of prosecution, the victim has the right to express his opinions when examining and prosecuting; I'm sorry if I refuse to accept the complaint, but the victim has the right to file a complaint and sue.
In the second instance and retrial procedure, if the victim and his legal representative refuse to accept the judgment of the first instance, they have the right to request the people's procuratorate to lodge a protest within 5 days after receiving the judgment, and the people's procuratorate must make a decision on whether to protest within 5 days after receiving the request and reply to the requester. In the procedure of second instance, the victim, his legal representative, agent ad litem, etc. Have the right to express opinions on the fact-finding and legal application of the first-instance judgment; When the court of second instance holds a hearing, the victim and others have the right to exercise their rights in accordance with the procedure of first instance. In the procedure of trial supervision, the victim, his legal representative and his near relatives have the right to appeal against the effective judgment.
By analyzing and comparing the rights granted by the Criminal Procedure Law to victims of private prosecution and victims of public prosecution, it seems that the rights of victims of public prosecution are more than those of victims of private prosecution, but the victims of private prosecution are obviously at a disadvantage in collecting evidence in the process of prosecution, and the private prosecution procedure is very similar to the civil procedure, but there are some problems such as the lax requirements of evidence in criminal litigation and the need to pay legal fees. Although the rights of victims in public prosecution cases seem to be many, most of them are restricted and need the approval of procuratorial organs. In practice, the victims of public prosecution cases are mostly just witnesses, and they are obviously not listed as parties in the proceedings, so they cannot enjoy the right of appeal. Although they can file an incidental civil action without paying legal fees, the rights of victims in criminal proceedings cannot be fully and effectively protected because of the limitation of the trial period and the focus of criminal proceedings is to investigate the criminal responsibility of the defendant.
Legal basis: Article 234 of the Criminal Procedure Law of People's Republic of China (PRC). As a party in criminal proceedings, the victim enjoys many rights:
(1) The right to apply for withdrawal. The victim and his legal representative have the right to apply for withdrawal if the judges, prosecutors and investigators may affect the legal provisions of the fair handling of the case;
(2) the right to lodge a complaint. Investigators have the right to accuse them of violating their litigation rights and personal insults.