Bring together more than 250 stakeholders. Taking the time to reflect collectively on the evolution and current state of crime victims’ rights. It was all quite a challenge. Yet thinking outside the box doesn’t scare the AQPV. But, in this age of all-things-too-fast, it can seem daunting to stop and take stock of and question victims’ “rights”. And yet, it seemed essential to reflect on and question the rights of victims enshrined in a number of national and international legislations, in the light of the experience victims go through when they try to exercise them.
This was the driving force behind the planning and programming of the Au cœur des droits symposium. The twenty or so workshops and plenary lectures were designed to cover, from a historical and critical perspective, the issues surrounding the exercise of victims’ rights before administrative, police, judicial and correctional authorities.
- How have these rights been updated in practices, legislation and the various reforms adopted in recent decades?
- What existing and alternative remedies are available to ensure that these rights are recognized?
- Should we adopt other rights, other legal tools?
- What obstacles stand in the way of full recognition of victims’ rights?
- What are the prospects for the future?
This was the question addressed by some sixty renowned speakers from Quebec, the rest of Canada and Europe.