Brussels, 31/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - An agreement is being sketched out on the basis of a Commission proposal regarding victims' rights in the criminal process. Notably, the justice ministers, meeting in Luxembourg on Friday 28 October, have agreed on the scope of application of these rights, by means of a 'targeting' of victims and assistance to depend on their role in the procedure. This new framework will, however, not concern children, who are always considered vulnerable victims.
On Friday, the Polish Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the EU opened the debate around two issues: the characteristics required for a victim to be able to benefit from assistance and the definition of vulnerable victims. Readers may recall that the proposal of Commissioner Viviane Reding, which was presented in May of this year, intends to give victims of crimes of various types a raft of minimum rights, such as a right to interpretation or translation and a reimbursement of the costs of proceedings.
The Commission's proposal raises problems of costs, however, which are very considerable for the member states, and so these are inclined to make this aid conditional. This means that the aid will be provided on a case-by-case basis, in “concrete situations”, according to the Polish Minister Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, and will be adapted to meet the victims' needs. Rights to information, translation and the reimbursement of costs should therefore be guaranteed to victims with a major role in the criminal proceedings, although the ministers seemed open to extending the right of information to all categories of victims.
On vulnerable persons, the ministers threw out Reding's idea of creating various categories of victims, but reached consensus on the automatic treatment of victims of terrorism as vulnerable victims, Kwiatkowski added, as well as children. For the others, we must decide on this vulnerability “based on an individual assessment, the characteristics of the person and the nature of the infringement”, the Polish minister continued. (SP/transl.fl)