Implementation of the Victims Rights Directive our Summer Course on - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Seminar on Implementation of the Victims’ Rights Directive our Summer Course on EU Criminal Justice - Victims' Rights Directive- - transposition, challenges and expectations European Institute for Gender Equality - 26 November 2015, Vilnius

Victims' Rights Directive- transposition • Adoption 2012 – transposition deadline 2015 • Correct implementation of the Victims' Rights Directive in the Member States requires:  legal actions (transposition of the Directive into the national legal orders by binding measures) and  supporting measures (setting up of victims' support services, organisation of trainings, organisation of individual assessment)  Need for national strategy on implementation 2

Victims' Rights Directive- transposition • DG Justice implementation strategy since 2012:  guidance document on implementation of the Directive: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/criminal/files/victims/guidance_victims_rights_directive_en.pdf  4 implementation workshops  Assistance on implementation and interpretation of particular provisions on request of particular countries 3

Victims' Rights Directive- transposition • Where do we stand in November 2015? - notifications to the COM of national transposition measures: -5 MS notified complete transposition (CZ,ES,MT,PT,SE) -8 MS notified partial transposition (BE,IE,FR,LT,NL,PL,RO,UK) • Other MS work on adoption of new measures (different stages of legislative process) • Possibly even 1/4 of the Member States have not taken any actions yet 4

Victims' Rights Directive- challenges • Certain provisions of the Directive more challenging than others?  Article 2 - Definition of victim  Article 4- Right to information - questions of practical application  Articles 8 and 9- Rights to support services- leaves a large margin of discretion to organise in practice  Article22- Right to individual assessment of victims needs to identify specific protection measures- equally large margin of discretion to implementation 5

V ictims' Rights Directive - Best practice (1) Examples of EU funded projects aimed at facilitating the implementation* (JUSTICE and DAPHNE programs): • Individual assesment- EVVI project, 2015 - handbook for the practitioners, template and recommended practices http://www.justice.gouv.fr/publication/evvi_guide_en.pdf • Comparative study on the theory and practice of diversity of treatment during the criminal trial identified ex ante shortcomings in legal / institutional frameworks of 27 MS (in 2014) http://www.victimsprotection.eu/images/4.38- Comparative-Report.pdf * Results of funded projects do not represent the official views of the European Commission 6

V ictims' Rights Directive - Best practice (2) - Examples of EU funded projects aimed at facilitating the implementation* (JUSTICE and DAPHNE programs): • Protection of victims – national protection orders and mutual recognition of protection measures, 2015 - EPOGENDER http://www.epogender.eu/ and POEMS http://poems-project.com • Development of multi-disciplinary and interagency services • PROMISE project (relevant for children, to be followed in 2016) http://www.childcentre.info/promise/ • *Results of funded projects do not represent the official views of the European Commission 7

Victims' Rights Directive - Other sources and ideas for cooperation: -Fundamental Rights Agency - reports and studies ,e.g. "Victims of crime in the EU: the extent and nature of support for victims", 2015 http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra- 2015-victims-crime-eu-support_en_0.pdf -Victims Support Europe – handbook on implementation and capacity building support for organisations dealing with victims http://victimsupporteurope.eu/ - European Victims' Network – forum to exchange best practice and to discuss problems among the MS officials 8

Victims' Rights Directive- expectations The Victims' Rights Directive lays down a set of binding  rules guaranteeing that all victims of crime are recognised and treated in a respectful, sensitive, tailored, professional and non-discriminatory manner If correctly implemented , the Directive has a potential of  changing lives of millions of victims in Europe and of making Europe a better place for us all 9

Victims' Rights Directive- expectations Different groups of victims and their family members have rightful expectations from the Directive, for example:  Victims of domestic violence – definition of violence in close relationship in the Preamble of the Directive, importance of provisions on access to support services and on individual assessment, access to information  Victims of gender-based violence – definition of gender-based violence in the Preamble including gender identity, gender expression, importance of provisions on individual assessment, trainings of persons coming into contact with victims 10

Victims' Rights Directive- challenges • Commission is committed to ensuring correct and timely implementation of the Victims' Rights Directive  On 16 November the Commission starts its enforcement strategy (legal, supporting and political actions)  May, if necessary take legal actions against those Member States that would fail to transpose the Directive on time  The correctness of the transposition will be evaluated in the second stage  The Commission will also monitor correct application of the Directive in the Member States (dialogue and legal actions) • The Commission counts on active participation of the civil society in implementation and in monitoring of application of the Directive in particular Member States 11

Thank you ! Contact / Info: European Commission DG Justice, Procedural Criminal Law unit • Victims' rights' Team: • Sara Chrzanowska • Katarzyna Janicka- Pawlowska • led by Ingrid Bellander - Todino • E-mail: sara.chrzanowska@ec.europa.eu • https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_victims_of_crime-65-en.do 12