Does the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme mirror the common law?
Not exactly. An act of violence committed on and resulting in psychiatric injury to the applicant will lead to an award of compensation. Such a claimant might be regarded as a primary victim within the categories described above. Where the applicant has not sustained any physical injury, however, Paragraph 9 of the 2001 Scheme requires proof that the applicant was ‘put in reasonable fear of immediate physical harm to his own person’ before compensation can be awarded. However, an applicant who might be described as a bystander who is not put in such fear for his own safety will also have a valid claim if he witnesses an act of violence on another and was both present at the scene of the violence or its immediate aftermath and had and still has a close tie of love and affection with the victim (unless the victim is dead).
