POLS 3300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Plea Bargain

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 3300
• Professor: Sheree Derferd

Document Summary

The definition of victim is not considered exhaustive, as it does not include every possible example of a victim. It is important to note, that the definition does not make a distinction between primary, secondary, and indirect victims. A primary victim is the person directly affected by the criminal act, such as the owner of a house that the criminally accused broke into and robbed. Using the same scenario, a secondary victim could be the child of the homeowner that experienced emotional and psychological harm by the crime. Finally, working with the example of a home robbery, an indirect victim could be other homeowners in the neighbourhood whose house insurance rates increase because of the crime. Furthermore, the definition of victim in the criminal code does not presume the guilt of the accused. In other words, a very diverse range of individuals, organizations, groups, and businesses can be victimized, either directly or indirectly.