victim's code and error in law

[psychojuice]

If a court fails to apply the victim's code during a hearing, is that an error in law?

[Amethyst]

In criminal proceedings ?

[psychojuice]

Where the person is a victim of a hate crime, but is giving evidence in a civil matter/ employment tribunal. From reading the code it would appear that the code is applicable to the HM court service. Therefore it would not matter whether the case is criminal or civil.

[Amethyst]

I don't think that discrimination in employment law is classed as a hate crime - there were no threats, harrassment, violence or abuse ( as far as I am aware through your other threads ) - and it wasn't reported to the police and investigated as such.

Which parts of the code do you feel the employment tribunal breached ?

[psychojuice]

A hate crime doesn't even need to be reported to the police in order to be treated as a victim, nor does there have to be violence used.

http://www.report-it.org.uk/what_is_hate_crime

As far as I can tell the victim's code is a statutory obligation that HM courts must abide by. I wasnt afforded any rights as a victim. A technicality I know and yes, I do want a second bite of the cherry, but if the respondent can post games then do to can I.

With the above in mind, if I can show the ET failed in applying the Victim's code when dealing with me, then that would show an error in law for an appeal. I think....

Does anyone have any thoughts?

[wales01man]

If you feel that a hate crime has been committed against you why have you not gone to the Police with the proof?

[AnotherLevel]

I wasnt afforded any rights as a victim.

What rights were you expecting?

A technicality I know and yes, I do want a second bite of the cherry, but if the respondent can post games then do to can I.

I think this is a dangerous game you are playing. You run a very high risk of a wasted costs order being made against you.

With the above in mind, if I can show the ET failed in applying the Victim's code when dealing with me, then that would show an error in law for an appeal. I think....

What crime do you think has been committed against you?

You weren't able to prove you were discriminated against in a civil court, where the burden of proof is a lot lower than a criminal court.

[psychojuice]

What rights were you expecting?



I think this is a dangerous game you are playing. You run a very high risk of a wasted costs order being made against you.



What crime do you think has been committed against you?

You weren't able to prove you were discriminated against in a civil court, where the burden of proof is a lot lower than a criminal court.

The point is I am entitled to have the victim code applied to me and it wasn't. It is a statutory duty of the court and they failed to apply it. Therefore thats an error in law is it not?

What was I expecting? https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/hel...s/victims-code

In terms of wasted costs, either I am entitled to being treated like a victim or I am not. I believe I fit within the definition of a victim of a hate crime.

In terms of loosing the case, that is neither here nor there. Every victim has a legal right to be treated equally under the eyes of the law.

But what I am unsure about is what area of error in law this would it come under?

• application of the wrong legal test
• inadequate reasons
• no evidence
• perversity
• bias/ apparent bias

Also, I plan to add another 2 or three errors in law, so this would not be the only one.

[R0b]

I think you are barking up the wrong tree here.

The link you provided quite clearly states that the Victims' Code is a statutory code that sets a minimum service level for any victims under the criminal justice system. Indeed the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime quite clearly states at paragraph 2 of the introduction (page 9) that:

This Code sets out the services that must be provided to victims of crime by organisations in England and Wales.

So unless I am missing something, you brought a civil claim and lost and I do not believe that the Victims' Code applies in civil cases. You are right that the Courts have a statutory duty to apply the Victims' Code but only in respect of criminal cases. The Courts deal with both criminal and civil cases but a Court hearing a civil claim will not tend to look at criminal issues as the correct jurisdiction would be to bring a criminal prosecution via the CPS or a private prosecution in all other circumstances.

AnotherLevel is right in that you would be at serious risk of perhaps an adverse costs order being made against you and it seems to me that this is a case of misunderstanding. Only a Court in their capacity of a criminal court will have the duty to apply the Victims' Code and I am happy to be corrected otherwise.

Below is an extract from the Victims' Code and you'll see that the applicability throughout refers to the criminal justice system, not the civil court system.

[psychojuice]

1. The more I think about it, the more I think I am right. Definition of a hate crime:

a hate incident if the victim or anyone else think it was motivated by hostility or prejudice based on one of the following things:

• disability
• race
• religion
• transgender identity
• sexual orientation.

This means that if you believe something is a hate incident it should be recorded as such by the person you are reporting it to. All police forces record hate incidents based on these five personal characteristics.

Anyone can be the victim of a hate incident.

2. Do I have to report a hate crime to the police to be treated as a victim? No.

3. The Victims’ Code applies to all criminal justice agencies, including the police, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Courts Service and the Probation Service.

4. The Court service includes all courts and tribunals i.e. an employment tribunal.

5. Victims of crime who are called as a witness have specific legal entitlements that are set out in the Victims’ Code. These include:

• the right to request special measures in court if you are a vulnerable or intimidated witness
• the right to claim for any expenses incurred as a witness in a criminal trial
• the right to ask court staff if you can enter the court building through a separate entrance from the defendant and their family and friends
• if you do not speak English, the right to request interpretation into a language you understand when giving evidence as a witness.

There is nothing within the statutory guidelines which indicate that a victim of a crime needs to do xyz in order for the victim's code to apply. If a person says they are a victim of a hate crime, then they are to be treated so. The law is clear on that.

Lets take an extreme example. A women is in work and someone pinches her bum- that is sexual assault. She does not want to report it to the police (which is absolutely her right) but she wants to take her employer to a tribunal because it did not take her complaint seriously (that is her right). She takes her complaint to an employment tribunal for sex discrimination.

When she is cross examined, in terms of her vulnerability, it is no different to a criminal court cross examination. She can still be asked about everything that happened on the day of the sexual assault. The employer can still rip her apart and question her credibility! So then why is it so hard to accept that the victim's code is applicable to someone in such a scenario? The tribunal still must consider her rights to have special measures put in place when giving evidence.

[R0b]

The link you supplied made it clear that the Code applies to the criminal justice system and as I have pointed out the Courts sit as both civil and criminal courts. Therefore the code only applies in criminal cases, not civil.

To be clear, here is the link to the Code of Practice: https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ctims-of-crime

When you read the blurb, it says



I am not sure how that can be made any clearer - it applies to victims of criminal conduct. When you delve into the Code of Practice itself, I can find nothing in the table of contents or in the document which refers to civil courts or obligations of civil courts to apply the Code. As I mentioned in my last post there is reference throughout relating to the criminal system from police investigation to bail, the trial, after the trial etc.

What you seem to be doing is being very selective in the parts that apply to you without reading the Code of Practice as a whole and that is not correct. If you feel that you are right then go ahead and make your appeal but if you lose and have a costs order made against you then you can't say that we haven't warned.

Even if the Code applied (which I do not agree with) then unless it would have changed the outcome of the decision or affected the decision in some way I don't think your appeal will be successful.

In the legal world, you might be described as a vexatious litigant i.e. someone who is doing this that are unlikely to be successful and their claims are hopeless but still insists on wasting court resources and time. I have to admit, this line of argument and your other threads (such as the barristers code) you have raised seem to venturing down this path.

I would suggest you get some proper legal advice before you decide to look at making any kind of appeal.

[wales01man]

Still waiting to read what the Police are doing about this

[psychojuice]

The police are doing nothing about it because I haven't reported it to the police! Nonetheless I am still a victim in law.

[wales01man]

The police are doing nothing about it because I haven't reported it to the police! Nonetheless I am still a victim in law.

If you are so sure you are a victim why not report it I think most of us on LB would

[psychojuice]

If you are so sure you are a victim why not report it I think most of us on LB would

It is because I don't want to, the police have enough on their plates without having to deal with more matters. But that does not change the fact that I should have been treated as a victim and had the victim code applied to my case