A study into how the families of homicide victims cope has found the criminal justice system fails to meet their needs.
The study, commissioned by Victim Support, is the first comprehensive research on the subject in New Zealand.
It looked at 22 homicide cases and spoke to 36 people whose family members had been killed.
The study found that the experience with the criminal justice system left families feeling disempowered and alienated.
It also found that families and partners have difficulty supporting one another because they are coming to terms with their own grief.
