Protection of crime victims by legal means: International and European law and policy
The article addresses the development of international and European policy in relation to victims of crime. It starts with an outline of the 1985 United Nations (UN) Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. It demonstrates that compliance by Member...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Victimology Society of Serbia and University of Belgrade, Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation
2015-01-01
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| Series: | Temida |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/1450-6637/2015/1450-66371501003G.pdf |
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| Summary: | The article addresses the development of international and European policy in
relation to victims of crime. It starts with an outline of the 1985 United
Nations (UN) Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime
and Abuse of Power. It demonstrates that compliance by Member States with the
provisions of the Declaration is still unsatisfactory, despite serious
efforts by the UN to promote its standards and norms. A similar trend is
described on a regional level in Europe. In 2001, the European Union adopted
a Framework Decision (a legally binding instrument) on minimum rights for
crime victims in the criminal justice system. This document brought some
improvement to victims and their position compared to the UN Declaration,
particularly in terms of limit repeated questioning, advanced informational
rights, reimbursement of expenses and construction of court facilities.
Nevertheless, evaluations undertaken in 2004 and 2009 have proved that none
of the Member States fully complied with its content. This document was
replaced with the new one - the EU Directive on establishing minimum
standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime. It is
stronger instrument than the Framework Decision and it includes more
demanding standards. But, its implementation needs to be monitored.
Therefore, in the presentation it is argued that a lack of compliance is
usually followed by the adoption of an even stronger legal instrument,
containing even more ambitious rights for victims of crime. It is questioned
whether this is the most productive approach. It is doubted that “hard law”
is always more effective than “soft law”. The most recent generation of more
elevated rights run the risk of leading to “victim fatigue” on the part of
the officials responsible for the operation of the criminal justice system. |
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| ISSN: | 1450-6637 2406-0941 |