Victim Surcharge: applicability in the Scottish criminal justice system

Abstract

Following the ‘Making Justice Work for Victims and Witnesses’ consultation paper by the
Scottish Government, this paper seeks to examine the proposals for a Victim Surcharge. This is
specifically analysed as part of wider victim literature, in light of similar schemes which operate
abroad, analysis of the consultation responses and interviews. It is argued that the Surcharge
follows wider political influences, which have often proven problematic and sometimes
counterproductive to victims’ needs. There are tensions between making the Surcharge work
and the principle of the Surcharge. If a Victim Surcharge was to be introduced, several
problems are anticipated. Firstly, care should be taken to ensure that the Surcharge does not
focus upon the narrow construction of ‘victim’. It would also arguably undermine the principle
of the Surcharge if all offenders did not pay it. Nevertheless, the Victim Surcharge does provide
victims a sense of justice and operates as a point of principle.