Crime victim should never become victim of trial: Madras Chief Justice
There is an urgent need to speed up the processes in the criminal justice system to prevent further victimization, Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, said in Chennai on Friday.
“Our urgent objective now is to speed up our system. A victim of a crime should never become a victim of the process,” Justice Dharmadhikari said while inaugurating the national conference ‘Victim Justice: Issues and Challenges’ at the University of Madras. Years of progressive legislation have managed to pull the victim out of “the dark edges of the courtroom and put them right where they belong — right in the center of the justice system,” he argued.
The Dharmadhikari court said legal and administrative procedures must never inflict fresh trauma on those who are truly broken, must offer immediate support, public care and unconditional dignity.
“Procedure may be the skeleton of justice, but compassion is its beating heart. And when compassion leads the way, the courtroom ceases to be a place of fear and becomes a haven of healing,” he told students, faculty and researchers attending the conference.
P. Jyothimani, a former judge of the Madras High Court and president of the International Foundation for Victims’ Justice, said that investigation and prosecution have long been a talking point in the criminal justice system, but victim justice is also an important part of it. The idea of victimology should find an echo around the world, and with the hope of continuing this work, the foundation was born, he added.
R. Thilagaraj, former head of the Department of Criminology, University of Madras, said victim justice has evolved from an academic field into a powerful social and legal movement that has shifted criminal justice systems from being strictly offender-focused to recognizing the rights, needs and voices of crime victims.
Rita John, Registrar, University of Madras, and S. Latha, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology and Director, Center for Cyber Forensics and Information Security, University of Madras, participated.
Published – 30 Oct 2026 22:19 IST