Supporting Access to Justice for Older Victims of Crime

Age discrimination towards our growing older population is unfortunately commonplace. A previously unresearched aspect of this has been the response of the justice system to older victims of crime.   Dr Kevin Brown, with Dr Faith Gordon (now of Australian National University), undertook research for the Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland exploring older people’s experiences of accessing the criminal justice system in the jurisdiction. The research found that older victims of crime are statistically less likely to have a successful outcome when reporting a crime, meaning that such crimes are more likely to not result in a suspect being identified and/or prosecuted and sanctioned. The report found that vulnerable older people are often not receiving the support they need to be able to fully access and engage with the justice system. The research report outlined 24 recommendations to agencies including the PSNI, the Public Prosecution Service, Department of Justice and the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunal Service to improve the experience of older victims. In 2020, the Northern Ireland Assembly voted to endorse the recommendations and call for the Department of Justice to draw up a strategy for their implementation.

Commissioned Report:

Improving Access to Justice For Older Victims of Crime: Older People as Victims of Crime and the Response of the Criminal Justice System in Northern Ireland

Subsequent Academic Publications:

Brown, K. J. & Gordon, F. (2019) ‘Older victims of crime: Vulnerability, resilience and access to procedural justice’ In: International Review of Victimology 25(2): 201-221.

Brown, K. J. & Gordon, F. (2020) ‘Exploring and overcoming barriers to justice for older victims of crime’ In: Criminal Law Review 12: 1127-1136.

Brown, K. J. & Gordon, F. (2020 early online release) ‘Improving access to justice for older victims of crime by reimagining conceptions of vulnerability’  In: Ageing & Society. 18 p.