Crime Victims’ Rights in the European Constitutions and the Scale Metaphor: Focus on the Recent Proposal to Amend the Italian Constitution

The paper deals with the rights of crime victims from a comparative perspective, starting from a recent proposal to amend the Italian Constitution. Part I highlights that the dynamic European path of recognition of victims’ rights has so far taken place despite the absence of explicit provisions in the constitutions of the most populous member states, in accordance with the dominant legal principles of the second half of the 20th century. Part II examines the progress of a proposal to reform the Italian Constitution and discusses the details of its wording. This proposal turns out to be a relevant opportunity for comparison with the United States, where a similar trend of amending state constitutions is underway, and there is a stated aim to amend the federal Constitution as well, providing explicit protection for crime victims. Part III acknowledges that there are some points in the (second version of the) Italian constitutional reform proposal and, more broadly, in the claims of proponents of the motley world of the Victims’ Rights Movement (VRM) that deserve attention, especially outside the delicate dynamics of criminal proceedings. The reasons for skepticism are mainly outlined in Part IV of the paper and the conclusion (Part V) is that a prudent approach should prevail. It seems appropriate to further ponder and then at least postpone a reform that does not really appear necessary today and rather could prove to be unfortunate.