I think you've touched on several key points for victims.
First of all, you touched on the criminal justice system. I've been before this committee and you've heard me talk about how complex and complicated things are for a victim. One of their basic needs is for information to understand their role within that criminal justice system. They need to understand what their rights are, and they need information about the offender who harmed them.
The two other words you hear me use all the time when I speak about victims are “choice” and “options”. Their choice to be involved should be respected, but in order to make those choices and choose those options, they need to be informed as to what is available to them.
In my opening comments I mentioned—and this speaks to your final comments on this—how important it is for victims to have information, to have an opportunity for input into that process, to have an opportunity to update their victim impact statement, and to be informed, at all points along that process, about their ability to participate. Our key points for the agency that's going to have responsibility for this process are that they should ensure that it's transparent, that it's inclusive, that there's an opportunity for victims to participate, and that they're informed.