Lending Support
Civitas, 25 May 2011
Although 30 million Europeans fall victim to crime each year, at an annual cost of some €250 billion, support for victims in the EU has long been woefully inadequate. However, extensive reform proposals published by the European Commission last week take important strides towards towards establishing a basic minimum level of care for victims of crime, and are undoubtedly deserving of praise.
At the launch of the official proposal, Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding argued that “[w]hile our criminal justice systems focus on catching criminals, they sometimes end up neglecting the victims themselves”. The new scheme marks a dramatic shift away from this “patchy” and inadequate approach.
Under the Commission’s plans, victims must be provided with information relating to their case “from the moment” the complaint is made, and updates must be given “on a regular basis throughout criminal proceedings”. All information must be delivered in an appropriate language and translators must be used when necessary. Criminal justice professionals, including police, prosecutors and judges, will receive specialised training to best prepare them to work with non-resident victims of crime, and there will be support for victims’ relatives who may be suffering intimidation.
Importantly, victims will be able to access “emotional and psychological support…from the earliest possible moment after the commission of a crime, irrespective of whether it has been reported”, and the most vulnerable individuals will be entitled to enhanced provision.
The EU has had explicit competence to legislate on the rights of victims of crime since the Lisbon Treaty came into force in 2009, and there have already been incremental improvements. For instance, late last year, the European Parliament approved plans for a European Protection Order (EPO), designed to enhance mutual recognition of civil protection measures so that individuals do not step outside such protection when they travel across European state borders. In addition, the proposals will build on previous efforts to tackle discrimination against victims of crime and road traffic offences when claiming compensation, by revising existing limitation periods.
Given the deficient victim care available in many EU countries, the Commission’s proposals are commendable, and the package has been recognised as a “vital tool” by Victim Support Europe as well as MEPs from across the political spectrum. However, while seeking to establish a minimum level of provision is undoubtedly favourable to imposing rigid, systemic changes across vastly different judicial systems, this basic standard must be sufficiently rigorous.
The UK should be at the helm in steering this policy as it passes through the legislative approval process over the next two years. With specialised Witness Care Units and exceptional charities, “the UK has some of the best support services for victims of crime in the world”. Exporting some of the UK’s best practice and expertise will benefit not only residents of other member states, but UK citizens who become victims of crime away from home.
The Commission’s plan to put victims “at the heart of criminal justice in the EU by making sure they can rely on minimum rights and support anywhere in Europe” is a laudable move, and member states would do well to support its progress. Indeed, Chief Executive of Victim Support in the UK, Javed Khan, has written to the Ministry of Justice and Baroness Ashton urging them to sign the directive, arguing that the measures would “strengthen the rights of victims and their voice in criminal proceedings across Europe”. Given its experience in this area, the UK should seize the chance to “continue to take the lead” and support the progress of this admirable directive.