Victims of violence will be able to claim as much as $100,000 after Senators passed The Criminal Injuries (Compensation) Amendment Act 2005 yesterday.

The Act allows for victims of crimes to receive financial compensation for injuries they received. Government Senate Leader and Attorney General Larry Mussenden said the maximum payout had not been changed since 1991.

?In an ideal world it is the defendant who should compensate the victim (but) we don?t live in an ideal world,? said Sen. Mussenden.

He said that all the matters with criminal injuries are justice related and was upset that the bill had taken 14 years to change.

Under the amendment victims can get a maximum compensation of $100,000 compared to the former amount of $70,000. Sen. Mussenden was careful to add that this does not mean that the maximum will be given out in all cases.

The amount given is determined by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board which reviews applications on a case by case basis.

Independent Sen. Walwyn Hughes said: ?Crime of any kind isn?t just physical injury, it?s loss of property of home.?

UBP Sen. Bob Richards said that Bermuda is filled with crime and most of it is drug related.

?I think we have a lot of crimes in Bermuda involving physical harm which are related to the drug trade?.

He also agreed that victims of crimes need to be compensated.

UBPSen. Kenny Bascome agreed with the other senators that change needs to occur.

?Overall I believe this is the first step for the country but we need to step further.?