| The compensation for mental damages for crime victims has been debated for a long time in China.Despite the fact that crime victims cannot be compensated for mental damages according to the judicial interpretations,there are plenty of cases from China Judgment Online in which crime victims claim the compensation for mental damages.It indicates that victims have a strong desire to get the compensation.Therefore,it is necessary to know the characters of the crime victims and their motivation for the compensation.There were 153 cases collected for a qualitative study.It shows that most victims claiming the compensation were from the violent crimes,they suffered harm and damages in different levels;they were inclined to claim for the compensation under 100,000 RMB.It has been demonstrated that there is incoherence among the laws and the judicial interpretations.Victims can claim for mental damages compensation according to the civil laws,but not the judicial interpretations,while the criminal laws do not state clear about it.While in the practice,different judges have different attitudes about the issue,according to the verdicts.Even so,the victims have less chance to receive mental damages compensation in general.Some judges believe the criminal punishment to the offenders is enough to compensate victims’ mental damages.Besides,the unclear reasons in the verdicts could also influence victims’ satisfaction about the procedures and the results.Compared with the United Kingdom’s system,there is no enough legal basis to support victims for their mental damages compensation.There is no state compensation either.China should make it clear that crime victims can receive the compensation for mental damages in the criminal laws,which will be coherent with the civil laws.There should also be state compensation for the victims.The victims of violent crime should have access to the mental damages compensation from the offenders or the states.Victims can choose between the civil procedure and the criminal incidental procedure.The state compensation can be issued while one of the judicial procedures is in process. |
