A dual-process approach to criminal law: victims and the clinical model of responsibility without blame

The dominant orientation in both mainstream and alternative forms of criminal justice theory and practice employs a single process approach: one that aims to do justice to victims primarily through conviction and punishment of the offender. In other words, justice for victims crucially involves offenders getting their ‘just deserts’. In contrast, this paper argues for a dual process approach: one that separates conceptually and, in so far as possible, in practice, the victim and the offender, and employs two distinct systems to serve the ends relevant to each respectively. We suggest that neither in principle nor in practice can a single process do justice to both victims and offenders. Rather, we set out principles for designing one track oriented to victims and another to offenders, to address the distinctive concerns of each in relation to criminal law with parallel sophistication and humanity.