noun phrase · formal

victim impact statement

UK/ˈvɪktɪm ˈɪmpækt ˈsteɪtmənt/US/ˈvɪktəm ˈɪmpækt ˈsteɪtmənt/VIC·tim IM·pact STATE·ment

Band 7+speakingtask2

a written or spoken statement by a victim describing how a crime affected them, often used during sentencing

Examples

“The court allowed the family to read a victim impact statement during sentencing.”

“Victim impact statements can influence the severity of the sentence.”

“She prepared a victim impact statement to explain how the assault changed her life.”

Band 8 sentence

“Before sentencing, the judge listened to several moving victim impact statements, which clearly affected the final decision.”

Collocations

  • submit a victim impact statement
  • read a victim impact statement
  • prepare a victim impact statement

Word family

victim nounimpact nounstatement noun

Common mistakes

victim statement→victim impact statement

a victim impact letter→a victim impact statement

Say it for a higher band

5victim letter→6victim statement→7+victim impact statement

Synonyms

impact statement

Easily confused

defendant's statement

“The defendant's statement denied any involvement in the robbery.”

Related words

report a crimedomestic violencemitigating circumstancescriminal justice systemsexual assaultsuspended sentencelaunch an investigationtrial by jury

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