Criminal Injuries Compensation Claims 2008: A Guide to the New Scheme

If the press are correct and we do live in a compensation-mad society, then an up-to-date knowledge of criminal injury compensation is vital. Every criminal and personal injury lawyer will have clients who have been attacked and want to claim. Family lawyers may need to advise victims of abuse. Not all of these clients are of particularly deserving of course, but there are many clients who are and are lost in the criminal justice system.

This book covers the basics of procedure and is up to date in response to changes in the appeals process. Unfortunately the book is not very practical and neither is it a critical study of the scheme. It will not tell you what advice to give a client on what to expect or how long the process will take. It will not help you answer the question 'If my costs will not be paid why do I need a lawyer anyway?'

At £47 for a 194-page paperback, of which over 100 pages are appendices, it is not a cheap book. It might have benefited from stock letters, and precedents of financial loss and a bit of straightforward advice. Some statistics on numbers of applications and how many proceed to the next stage and with what measure of success would be interesting. Those who practise in this area know the system is slow, cumbersome, and that awards are often disappointing. The client will need to be aware of pitfalls that tend to arise, such as delays reporting incidents to the police.

Lawyers need to convince the public that they need our skills, advice and experience. Sadly this book does not offer that.