The implementation of the 2012 Victim’s Rights Directive remains largely unsatisfactory, according to an evaluation report published by the European Commission on Monday 11 May. At issue: an often incomplete or incorrect transposition into national legal orders.
Member States had until 16 November 2015 at the latest to transpose this Directive, which allows victims of crime to benefit from a set of basic support services, such as psychological assistance or the right to translation, anywhere in the EU (see EUROPE 10704/15).
At the time of publication of this report, the majority of Member States had still not fully transposed the Directive, the Commission says. It is currently pursuing 21 infringement proceedings for incomplete transposition of the Directive against: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden.
The report also raises many concerns about the practical implementation of some key provisions of the Directive, such as access to information, support services and protection.
It also notes that several Member States have not correctly transposed the definition of “victim”. The report also points out that some States have failed to incorporate this definition into their national legislation, while others have not specified that family members of a deceased victim are considered victims, thereby effectively limiting the rights of such persons.
The Commission also observes implementation difficulties with regard to the right of access to support services. Many Member States restrict access to these services to victims of domestic violence or victims of trafficking in human beings, while others do not guarantee the right to support services for family members of victims.
Furthermore, in several Member States the requirement to introduce a personalised assessment of victims' protection needs is not implemented or is only partially implemented.
The Commission states that it is working closely with Member States on these shortcomings. Should these persist, the Commission will not hesitate to initiate new infringement proceedings, it says.
See report: https://bit.ly/2LnofWY (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)