RAPE VICTIMS - MORE COMPENSATION
Fri, February 02, 1900
Source:
1,000 for a broken nose to
£250,000 for quadriplegia. Victims who suffer the most serious injuries c
Rape victims and victims of multiple injuries
are to receive higher compensation awards as part of a package of changes to the
Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, Home Secretary Jack Straw has
announced.
Minimum awards for rape victims will rise
from £7,500 to £11,000 and awards for serious multiple injuries will increase
from the current formula of 100% for the most serious injury, 10% for the second
and 5% for the third to 100%, 30% and 15%.
Under the changes there will be a
10% increase to 17 of the bands in the tariff of injuries. This includes
increases to awards for injuries such as severe head burns, repeated sexual
abuse of children and loss of a hand or arm.
Changes to the Criminal Injuries
Compensation Scheme (CICS) include:
- Increasing the level of
awards;
- Increasing the minimum award for
rape by nearly 50%;
- Increasing awards for sexual
assault and child abuse;
- Introducing additional
compensation for victims who contract HIV/AIDS as a result of sexual or other
violent crimes;
- Increasing the amount of money
paid to victims who suffer serious multiple
injuries;
- Extending eligibility for fatal
awards to same sex partners, and
- Changing the way the tariff of
injuries is set out to make it easier for victims to
use.
Mr Straw said:
"Over the last four-years overall crime has
come down by up to 10% and it is continuing to fall, but however good the
statistics, it is still devastating to be a victim of
crime.
"I want
victims of crime to have a greater confidence that we are looking after their
interests and listening to their concerns.
"Our action to change the Criminal Injuries
Compensation Scheme demonstrates our commitment to ensure victims are better
served by the criminal justice system, which for too long has overlooked their
needs and interests. And by reducing overall crime we are helping to reduce the
number of people who become victims in the first place."
The
proposed changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme will be put to
Parliament for approval and follow consultation carried out in 1999. Details of
proposed changes to the tariff scheme are attached.
For the first time, the Government
will also extend eligibility for fatal awards to same sex partners. Until now,
only parents, children, spouses or long term heterosexual partners could qualify
for a fatal award under the tariff.
Changes to the Criminal Injuries
Compensation Scheme will mean £20 million more at a time when the overall cost
is falling as outstanding cases from the previous common law damages scheme are
cleared.
Notes
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
(CICS) provides payment for those who have been the victim of a violent crime or
injured in trying to apprehend criminals or prevent crime in England, Wales and
Scotland.
Under the Criminal Injuries
Compensation Scheme payment is made on the basis of a tariff (scale) of awards
that group together injuries of comparable severity and allocate a financial
value to them. There are some 400 injury descriptions in the tariff ranked
against 25 levels of award. These range from £1,000 for a broken nose to
£250,000 for quadriplegia. Victims who suffer the most serious injuries can get
additional compensation for loss of earnings or earning capacity and the costs
of care, taking the maximum award payable to £500,000.
In
1999-2000 the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), which administers
the scheme, paid more than £206 million in compensation to more than 43,000
victims of violent crime in England, Wales and Scotland.
The tariff scheme was placed on
statutory footing in 1996. Before that the scheme was operated on the basis of
common law damages. Following the introduction of the tariff scheme, both
schemes ran in parallel while the 110,000 outstanding cases lodged before 1996
were cleared under the old rules. This parallel running led to a temporary rise
in expenditure between 1998 and 2002 (see table below). By 2002-03 the backlog
of cases being considered under the previous scheme will have been cleared, and
all cases will be dealt with under the statutory tariff scheme. Forecast
expenditure on compensation for the tariff scheme in 2002-03 and 2003-04 is
higher than expenditure under the previous common law damages scheme which
operated until 31 March 1996.
Details of past and (estimated)
future expenditure on compensation are as follows in £ millions:
|
94-95 |
95-96 |
96-97 |
97-98 |
98-99 |
99-00 |
00-01 |
01-02 |
02-03 |
03-04 |
|
175 |
179 |
211 |
202 |
194 |
206 |
202 |
222 |
182 |
182 |
The Criminal Injuries Compensation scheme is
stated to be one of the most generous and comprehensive schemes in the world.
For example, in 1999, the USA paid out close to $265m (about £180m) to more than
115,000 victims. By comparison, in 1999-2000 the Great Britain Scheme paid out
more than £206m to more than 43,000 victims (vastly more than any other scheme
in Europe). Moreover, in some schemes abroad, compensation is only paid for
financial loss, not for hurt and suffering; in other countries victims are
expected to secure compensation primarily through the courts as part of the
criminal process.
|
CRIMINAL
INJURIES COMPENSATION SCHEME |
|
|
|
|
|
Tariff
band or level |
Present
tariff award (£) |
Proposed
tariff award (£) |
|
Typical
types of injuries under present tariff awards |
Typical
types of injuries under proposed tariff award |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
1,000
|
1,000
|
|
Undisplaced
fracture of nose |
Undisplaced
fracture of nose |
|
2 |
1,250
|
1,250
|
|
Loss
of crowns on teeth |
loss
of crowns on teeth |
|
3 |
1,500
|
1,500
|
|
Displaced
fracture of nose |
Displaced
fracture of nose |
|
4 |
1,750
|
1,750
|
|
Perforated
ear drum |
Perforated
ear drum |
|
5 |
2,000
|
2,000
|
|
Dislocated
jaw |
Dislocated
jaw |
|
6 |
2,500
|
2,500
|
|
Simple
skull fracture (no operation) |
Simple
skull fracture (no operation) |
|
7 |
3,000
|
3,300
|
|
Simple
fracture of jaw: fractured shin bone or forearm |
Simple
fracture of jaw: fractured forearm |
|
8 |
3,500
|
3,800
|
|
Collapsed
lung: facial scarring (significant disfigurement) |
Collapsed
lung: fractured shin bone |
|
9 |
4,000
|
4,400
|
|
Fractured
wrist |
Facial
scarring (significant disfigurement): fractured wrist |
|
10 |
5,000
|
5,500
|
|
Fractured
feet bones: detached retina: dislocated shoulders |
Fractured
feet bones: detached retina |
|
11 |
6,000
|
6,600
|
|
Depressed
skull fracture: severe child sex abuse |
Depressed
skull fracture |
|
12 |
7,500
|
8,200
|
|
Rape:
fractured pelvis |
Deafness:
loss of index finger: severe child sex abuse: dislocated
shoulders |
|
13 |
10,000
|
11,000
|
|
Multiple
rape: two fractured arms or legs: severe head burns |
Rape:
fractured pelvis |
|
14 |
12,500
|
13,500
|
|
Detached
retinas: partially controlled epilepsy |
Multiple
rape: detached retinas: partially controlled epilepsy |
|
15 |
15,000
|
16,500
|
|
Moderate
brain damage: loss of thumb |
Moderate
brain damage: loss of thumb: severe head burns |
|
16Police News Index |
|
