Realizing Crime Victims’ Participatory Rights on the Frontstage:An Analysis of the Dutch Courtroom

Since victims generally lack full legal party status in criminal proceedings, and judges and prosecutors exercise significant discretionary power, the realization of victims’ participatory rights depends on the behaviour of criminal justice professionals and is shaped by courtroom norms. Drawing on courtroom observations, this study shows that the enforcement of victims’ rights is an interactive process that hinges on real-time, in-person communication. By applying a Goffmanian framework, this study makes claims about the role responsibilities to which criminal justice professionals respond in facilitating these rights. The article concludes that while victims’ participatory rights are consistently realized due to interactive opportunities in the courtroom, the manner in which they are realized varies. This variation reflects the different role responsibilities judges assume, and demonstrates how discretion gives rise to divergent behavioural norms in practice.