The Role of the Public Prosecution in Supporting Human Rights

Abstract

The effectiveness of a national criminal justice system depends on the extent to which the rights associated with the legal statuses arising from the commission of crimes are effectively enforced. These legal statuses are no longer confined to holding the offender accountable and redressing the harm suffered by the victim; rather, their scope has expanded to encompass the rights-based approach adopted by the system, which is closely linked to the need to ensure that fundamental human rights are not infringed upon, regardless of whether the individual is an offender or a victim, throughout the procedural stages relevant to access to criminal justice. Consequently, any deficiency affecting these stages from a human rights perspective also undermines the effectiveness of the criminal justice system.