The reinvention of the victim: civil society and comprehensive reparation in grand corruption cases

16 March 2026

Following the launch of last year’s ‘Stronger Together: Justice for victims of corruption’ initiative, civil society actors, experts, and advocates have successfully maintained momentum around a critical question: how can justice systems better recognize and repair the harm caused by corruption?

One outcome of this initiative is the idea of developing a framework for recognizing civil society organizations as institutional victims in cases of grand corruption.  Juan Pablo Olmedo Bustos shares his thoughts on a framework that could help countries in the Inter-American system  strengthen access to justice, accountability, and comprehensive reparation.

His proposed framework responds to a growing consensus: grand corruption causes structural and diffuse harm that goes far beyond the State as an abstract entity. It undermines human rights, erodes public trust, and disproportionately affects vulnerable communities. In this context, civil society organizations are not merely observers or complainants. They often act as legitimate representatives of collective interests and are uniquely positioned to support victims, contribute evidence, and help ensure that justice processes lead to meaningful and restorative outcomes.

The framework builds on existing Inter-American and international standards, as well as comparative experiences from Latin America and Europe. It outlines:

  • Criteria for accrediting civil society organizations as institutional victims;
  • Procedural rights that allow them to participate meaningfully in criminal proceedings;
  • Approaches to reparation, including the socially oriented use of recovered assets.

This output is presented as a starting point for discussion. It reflects the shared understanding that justice for victims of corruption must be collective, participatory, and transformative. Your thoughts and feedback are welcome as we take this conversation forward.

Read the framework in Spanish.

The reinvention of the victimDownload

Juan Pablo Olmedo Bustos is a lawyer and holds an LLM in international Law. He is a plaintiff before the Interamerican Court on Human Rights and was the first president of the Chilean Council for Transparency.