A call made by St. Maarten’s Ombudsman to change legislation for victims of crime awarded more than 5,000 Caribbean guilders by the court (see Wednesday newspaper) was interesting. The Penal Code allows government to advance up to that amount.
For anything higher, victims depend on the offender’s ability and willingness to pay. The latter indeed seems unfair and creates a situation where the innocent suffer consequences due to actions -or lack thereof- by the guilty.
Use of the Crime Fund to cover this adjustment’s predictable extra future cost is recommended, so taxpayers don’t end up footing the bill. However, these remain public means.
The term “advance” suggests the money will some day be returned. In reality, that is certainly not always the case.
All this raises the issue of whether society should in effect carry the burden for convicts failing to comply fully with their sentence. That doesn’t appear completely right either.
What’s more, no new limit was mentioned. Theoretically, related expenses could thus run up to tens- or even hundreds- of thousands.
While the idea promotes justice being done to victims, practical implications including financial ones must be carefully studied first. In doing so, “to what extent?” remains one of the main questions.
