Is Justice really served when we just put the perpetrator behind bars and forget about the victim?
By Lurnay Tshabalala-Mavuso | Law & Legal Analysis | Jan 2023 WHAT IS JUSTICE ? Justice is the idea of fairness and impartiality, especially with regard to the punishment of wrong doing. This question has been sprawling in my thoughts for the first three years I have spent in law school. Even today I still ask myself the very same question, is Justice really served when we just put the perpetrator behind bars and forget about the victim?, and I believe that I have found the answer to that question. Justice isn’t being fully served when we just put the perpetrator behind bars and forget about the victim. I know many of you reading this piece right now are asking themselves, HOW DO WE FORGET ABOUT THE VICTIM?, let me tell you how, we forget about the victim by focusing on proving the actions of the perpetrator and not bearing in mind that in that process the victim gets to re-live the traumatic experience when they have to answer questions in a court cross-examination,