5.1 Concept of Crime Victim Justice System

A victim justice system is the criminal justice system re-imagined from the victim's seat: the victim as rights-holder and participant, not mere evidence. Its pillars: 1. Recognition — the harm and the victim are officially acknowledged. 2. Participation — information, voice, and presence through the process. 3. Reparation — restitution, compensation, and rehabilitation as justice's outputs. 4. Non-repetition — guarantees that the victimization stops (protection; structural prevention). The contrast with the classic model: classic justice asks what law was broken and what punishment follows; victim justice adds what harm was done, to whom, and what repair follows. Nepal's constitutional uptake: Article 21's trio (information, rehabilitation, compensation) is a victim-justice clause inside a classic constitution.