The Department of Justice seeks to ensure that crime victims are treated as meaningful participants in the criminal justice system. The Office of Legal Policy (OLP) has spearheaded several important initiatives related to victims' rights at the federal level.

• OLP coordinated the first revision of the Attorney General's Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance since 2000.
• OLP is responsible for working with the United States Attorneys' Offices to ensure consistent interpretation of the Crime Victims' Rights Act nationwide.
• OLP is focused on improving the collection of restitution for victims of federal crime. OLP drafted a number of legislative proposals in this area, including the "Restitution for Victims of Crime Act" that provides prosecutors with new tools to aid the collection of restitution owed to crime victims, such as the ability to restrain defendants' assets to prevent them from spending, sending abroad, or otherwise dissipating the proceeds of their crimes.

Remarks of Assistant Attorney General Rachel L. Brand at NOVA Crisis Response Conference (November 13, 2006)

Letter Transmitting Department of Justice Transmittal Legislative Proposal "Restitution for Victims of Crime Act of 2006" (May 25, 2006)

DOJ's Report to Congress on the Activities of the Attorney General's Task Force on the Improvement of the Collection of Criminal Debt (August 2005)

Justice For All Act of 2004

Attorney General Guidelines for Victim-Witness Assistance (May 2005)

Regulation Creating the Office of the Victims' Rights Ombudsman