Abuse survivors & the search for justice

• More than civil compensation is often required when helping survivors and victims of abuse.
• Why it’s important to understand at the earliest stage what definition of justice the victim is seeking.

The civil justice system can achieve wonderful things. A judge can order you to finish what you promised to do, freeze your assets, prevent you from going to certain places, stop you issuing litigation without permission; even commit you to prison. But when it comes to tortious claims, it is nothing more than a blunt instrument.

Its aspirations are to place the injured party in the position that they would have occupied but for the commission of the tort but that is, by its very nature, a Sisyphean task. It is physically and practically impossible to put somebody in that position and, even if the court achieves that goal to the best of its abilities, the victim will still