The British Government said it will force offenders to either face their victims or their families in court or spend two extra years in prison. “It is unacceptable that some of the country’s most horrendous criminals have refused to face their victims in court. They cannot and should not be allowed to take the coward’s way out,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. This decision is part of a new reform that aims to make sentencing tougher for the most horrifying killings, leading to significant changes in the U.K.'s legal system.
I have read horror stories about this happening in the US, where victims of terrible crimes can be cross-examined in a dehumanising or intimidating way by the person who harmed them if they choose to defend themselves. It’s really disgusting.
It’s a tricky one, because there are cases where the accused is guilty, cases where they’re innocent, and cases where they’ve been deliberately falsely accused. Until the trial, they can’t fairly be separated, so they should have the right to defend themselves, but, as you say, this can mean that an innocent person is put through something awful by the person who hurt them in the first place.
I’m just glad that I don’t have to write the rules around that.