The person that has been harmed by a personal injury might not feel like someone that can speak up and demand his or her rights. Still, all victims have rights. In fact each of them has three specific rights.
The victim’s right to sue
This gets paired with another of the victim’s rights, the ability to have a claim adjudicated in court. The adjudication process forces an examination of a given claim’s validity and fairness. It allows a jury to study the soundness and veracity of the statements made by the witnesses.
Yet the court will not adjudicate any claim that might be made. The person that has chosen to sue an opposing party must offer evidence in support of his or her allegations. In addition, the legal system puts a time limit on the victim’s right to file a lawsuit. That limited period of time starts on the day when the victim became aware of the injury’s existence. And that is the right time to contact an Injury Lawyer in Burlington, to help you with the claim procedure.
The victim’s right to recover damages
During the recovery process, victims have little control over how their long hours of recuperation get spent. Often the injured victim must stay at home and cannot earn an income. Indeed, that loss of an income is viewed as a damage, one for which the victim should be compensated.
Any harm that has been done to the victim’s body gets labeled as more damage. Naturally, any destruction of part of the injured party’s property is viewed as another loss, i.e. further damage. Those are the most obvious losses/damages suffered by any injured adult. Yet the courts allow for consideration of an entire list of others as well.
When an injury disables someone, then it robs that same person of what has been called enjoyment of life. At times injurious harm to the body can cause the emergence of a disfigured body part. A disfigured face usually results from harm to two of more parts of the visage. Depending on the extent of damages, close relatives of the victim may also come forth with a claim.
Of all the damages, the costliest falls under the heading of pain and suffering. In some cases the suffering seems like an ongoing condition. It can affect the emotions to such an extent that the person with the injury becomes depressed. In that case, the defendant must cover the cost of visits with a psychiatrist, along with any prescribed treatment.
One of the rights denied by the legal system to the person that can sue
That same person cannot determine the punishment that will be given to the guilty party. In fact, a judge should not invite the plaintiff to play a part in deciding the punishment. Nor can the judge’s decision be avoided by conducting a pre-trial and punishing act on the person that has failed to show a duty of care towards the plaintiff.
