Victim Services

If you are a victim of crime and have reported it to the police, Victim Services staff may be able to assist you as the case proceeds through the criminal justice system. This also applies if the matter goes through Alternative Measures or Extrajudicial Measures. Services provided can include:

• referrals for counselling services
• compensation and/or restitution
• court preparation and support and impact statements
• follow-up after the court process, parole hearings and offender release
• information on making a complaint.

If you feel overwhelmed because of the crime and do not feel you will be able to testify in court or cope with its effects, you may benefit from counselling. Staff can tell you about the following counselling services and who is eligible:

Court support counselling - A crime can leave you feeling traumatized, anxious, or fearful, which can affect your ability to testify. The purpose of court support counselling is to help you give evidence in court. It usually begins once the trial date is set. Staff can refer you to see a registered therapist of your choice.

Short-term counselling - If you are the victim of a violent crime, you may be eligible for short-term counselling, which is a benefit under the Compensation for Victims of Crime Program. Discuss your situation with Victim Services staff to find out if you are eligible. The purpose of short-term counselling is to help you deal with the emotional effects of being a victim of a violent crime.

Regarding these services:

• Victim Services staff must approve the counselling sessions.
• counselling sessions must specifically address the effects of the crime.
• before you can receive funding, you must first make use of any coverage available to you through insurance or an employee assistance program.
• you may choose a therapist from a list of registered therapists in your area and staff will then make the referrals.
• Victim Services staff may pay the therapist directly for your counselling sessions.
• you may choose a therapist from a list of registered therapists in your area and staff will then make the referrals.
• Victim Services staff may pay the therapist directly for your counselling sessions.

If you have suffered personal injuries or losses as a direct result of a crime, you may be eligible for benefits under the Compensation for Victims of Crime Program. The benefits available may assist you with expenses not covered by other means, such as medical and dental costs, physiotherapy, funeral expenses, relocation and childcare. There are maximum limits on each type of benefit, as well as an overall maximum award.

You should contact Victim Services as soon as possible if you wish to apply for compensation. They can tell you if you qualify for compensation. To be eligible, you must cooperate with the police during the investigation. If the authorities lay charges, you must cooperate throughout the court process.

Victims who are 19 years old and under or who are unable to apply on their own, may have a parent or guardian apply on their behalf.

Restitution is a payment that a person convicted of a crime makes to a victim to cover financial losses that resulted from the crime. The Canadian Victims Bill of Rights provides victims of crime with the right to ask the court to consider making a restitution order if the court finds the accused guilty of the crime.

To ask for restitution, you must complete a Statement on Restitution Form. The police will give you this form along with a fact sheet explaining restitution. Once the form is completed, you should give it to the police and include copies of any documents to support your claim for restitution, such as bills, receipts, letters from employers, estimates, etc. The police will give the form to the Crown prosecutor.

Victim Services staff can explain how to request restitution from the offender and how to apply to the court.

All victims are eligible for information and court support services from Victim Services. However, not all victims are eligible to apply for financial benefits under the Compensation for Victims of Crime Program. For example, victims of property crimes and driving offences do not qualify.

However, victims of property crimes and driving offences may be eligible for other kinds of financial benefits or remedies depending on the specific circumstances of each case. Some possibilities that victims or survivors may wish to explore include:

• The Fatal Accidents Act
• Uninsured Automobile Fund
• Insurance coverage (e.g. Blue Cross, automobile insurance, employee assistance programs)
• Civil actions

You may wish to discuss these options with staff at Victim Services.

You will receive an explanation of what happens in court, the roles and responsibilities of the various officials involved in the criminal justice process, and what may be required of you when you testify. You may also have a tour of the courtroom before the trial and the opportunity to identify any special needs you may have if you are to be a witness (health conditions, need for interpreters, etc.).

Victim Services coordinators are not lawyers or legal advisors. If you want to talk about your specific evidence, they will arrange for you to meet with the Crown prosecutor assigned to your case.

Arrangements can be made for victims of crime, particularly children and other vulnerable victims, to apply to the court for special protections and testimonial aids, such as:

• screens that prevent the victim from seeing everyine in the courtroom except the judge
  
• closed circuit TV that allows the victim to testify from a designated room outside the courtroom
  
• support person who is allowed to stand by the victim
  
• a publication ban, which is a court order preventing the public and the news media from reporting or broadcasting the name of a victim or witness
  
• appointment of a lawyer to cross-examine a victim in cases where an accused person is representing himself/herself.

These protections are mandatory for victims under 18 if requested. Other victims may ask for special protections or testimonial aids either through the Crown prosecutor or directly to the court. Staff have more information on special protections and testimonial aids.

As a victim of crime, you have the right to participate in the Impact Statement Program. You can prepare an impact statement if the court finds the accused:

• guilty
• not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder
• guilty of a crime that affected your community.

If you wish, you may ask to read your impact statement aloud at the hearing. You may ask to have a support person sit nearby. You may also ask to read the statement behind a screen or by closed circuit TV. The judge must take your impact statement into account when sentencing.

After the court case has finished, Victim Services staff can give you information on:

• the sentencing outcome in the case, referred to as the disposition of the case. For example, the offender may have received an absolute or conditional discharge, probation, a conditional sentence, or incarceration.
• what it means for you if the offender receives some type of community supervision sentence such as probation or a conditional sentence.
• the possibility of an appeal of the conviction and/or sentence, and when that might occur.

After the trial, some victims do not want to know anything more about the offender. However, others do want access to certain information. Victim Services staff can explain your options for receiving information such as notification of the offender’s release, or the date and destination of the offender’s release on unescorted or escorted temporary absence, work release, parole, or statutory release.

If the offender was sentenced to jail for less than two years, or if the court found the accused not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder, you must register with Victim Services to receive information. If the offender was sentenced to prison for two years or more, you must register with the Parole Board of Canada and/or Correctional Service of Canada.

You have the right to register to make and present an updated impact statement at Parole Board hearings. In the case where the court finds someone not criminally responsible, the victim still has the right to prepare a written impact statement. You can indicate in your statement if you would like to read it aloud and/or update it at Review Board Hearings.

Victims who register to attend hearings are eligible to receive funding from Justice Canada. Financial assistance is also available for a support person to accompany registered victims to attend or to provide child or dependent care to enable victims to attend.

To get information about Review Board Hearings (for an accused found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder for an accused found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder), you must register with Victim Services. You will continue to be notified of hearings and outcomes for as long as you wish to receive annual review information or until the Review Board has given the accused an absolute discharge. In addition to being notified of hearing dates, locations and outcomes, victims may also be informed of appropriate information about the accused.

The Victims Bill of Rights provides victims of crime with the right to complain if they feel that their rights were denied or not respected. Victim Services staff can help you figure out where and how to make a complaint.

A series of informational brochures, guides and aids for victims of crime have been prepared by the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick (PLEIS-NB). This organization is a non-profit charitable organization. Its goal is to provide the public with information on the law. 

PLEIS-NB receives funding and in-kind support from the federal Department of Justice, the New Brunswick Law Foundation and the New Brunswick Department of Justice and Public Safety.