Because New Zealand does not currently provide victims’ the right to legal advice or independent legal representation2 (ILR), the Chief Victims Advisor to Government commissioned this literature review to explore victims’ rights to legal advice and legal representation in other countries with similar adversarial systems. The rights to ILR, where provided, are usually exclusive to sexual violence victims because, due to the personal nature of the crime, they are often the only witness and thus must endure increased scrutiny from defence counsel. This report firstly provides an overview of the how the role of ‘victim’ is positioned within the adversarial criminal justice system, followed by a review of the provision
of legal advice services for victims. The core of the report explores ILR for victims and is organised by country: the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England & Wales, Australia, Canada, and the United States. This is followed by an overall summary/analysis and
a conclusion. (From the Introduction). Record #8356