Comparison of Impact of Procedural Justice and Outcome on Victim Satisfaction: Evidence From Victims’ Experience With Registration of Property Crimes in India

ABSTRACT

Crime victim–police interface and registration of crime are the early and fundamental interactions in the criminal justice system. The process of lodging a complaint is marked by the pain of victimization, sharing of information, and expectation of quick remedial action from the police. The nature and quality of experience of the victim and outcomes impact the level of satisfaction with services of police. Through a survey of victims of property crimes, in different areas of a state in India, the author examines the impact of procedural justice and outcomes on victim satisfaction. The study illuminates the outcome oriented expectations of the victim, and the unique dynamics of victim–police interaction, which strains the legal ethical framework of the criminal justice system.

KEYWORDS:

• procedural justice
• victim satisfaction
• policing
• property crimes

Notes

1. There is variation in conceptualization of justice, with some theories including interactional justice within procedural justice and others presenting it as a separate component.

2. Section 154 of Criminal Procedure Code provides that “Every information relating to the commission of cognizable offence, if given orally to an officer in charge of a police station, shall be reduced to writing by him or under his direction, and be read over to the informant.”

3. Details of the number of police stations were obtained from the report titled “Data on Police Organization in India” published by the Bureau of Police Research and Development in 2013.

4. This method entails selection of 20 complainants of crime from each selected police station where the study was being conducted. In addition, 20 more complainants were selected as a backup in case individuals from the first list could not be traced or refused to participate in the survey. The selection process used an algorithm to ensure that the five most commonly reported types of crime in each selected police station were represented proportionally in the selected 40 respondents from the police station.

5. The 2011 Census of India enumerated parameters of religion and whether assessees were scheduled castes or scheduled tribes. However, the Census of India does not publish caste composition of other castes such as backward and forward castes.

6. Data released by Government of India (2013) through the Press Information Bureau.

7. As indicated in endnote 2, section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code mandates that the officer in charge of the police station to promptly record information received regarding a crime. However, court rulings allow police to make some preliminary enquiries before registering a case. “Normally in the ordinary course a police officer shall record an FIR, if the complaint discloses a cognizable offence. However, in exceptional cases where the police officer has reason to suspect that the complaint is motivated on account of personal or political rivalry, he may defer registering of the FIR, and take a decision after preliminary enquiry” (Lalita Kumari vs Government of Uttar Pradesh and others, W P (Criminal) No.68 [Supreme Court of India. 27 February 2012]).

8. It must be kept in mind that the data are for only those cases that have been registered by the police. There is the possibility that a complaint has been submitted and it has not been registered by the police at all. Undoubtedly this type of response would greatly dissatisfy the complainant. However, I did not sample respondents who had faced this response and would not be able to comment on their experience.

9. Section 154 of Criminal Procedure Code requires that a copy of the information recorded by the police as a complaint should be given free of cost to the complainant.

10. Article 15 of the Constitution of India expressly prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, gender, or place of birth. “The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, or any of them.” In addition, over the last sixty years there has been a slew of social legislations such as the Scheduled Caste and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1984, the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, Section 304 B of the Indian Penal Code (which defines and stipulates punishment for Dowry death), and section 498 A of the Code, which provides punishment for violence against women by spouses and near relatives.