Proposal for a Directive amending Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA

Summary:

Legislative initiative tabled by the European Commission on 12 July 2023, introducing amendments to Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime.

Further information:

Directive 2012/29/EU - also known as the Victims' Rights Directive (VRD) - is the main horizontal instrumental in EU law for victims' rights. It lays down rights for all victims of all crimes, including the right to information, the right to support and protection based on victims’ individual needs, procedural rights, and the right to receive a decision on compensation from the offender at the end of criminal proceedings. The Act has been applicable since 2015 across the European Union (EU) except for Denmark (not bound by the Directive).

The European Commission adopted its EU Strategy on Victims' Rights (2020-2025) in June 2020, seeking to step up efforts to ensure access to justice for all victims of crime no matter where the crime took place in the EU or under what circumstances. The strategy tasked the Commission with assessing if a revision of the VRD was necessary and, if so, to propose the necessary amendments.

Despite delivering the expected benefits and positively affecting victims' rights, the evaluation report to the Directive also highlighted specific shortcomings that persisted. This draft law seeks to address those problems, establishing minimum rules that go beyond the existing legislative framework. It aims in particular:

• improvement in victims' access to information;
• better alignment of protection measures with victims' needs;
• improved access to specialist support for vulnerable victims;
• more effective participation in criminal proceedings for victims;
• facilitated access to compensation from the offender in all cases.

The proposed Directive was adopted by the European Commission on 12 July 2023.

• Primary Source

Official

EUR-LEX: SWD(2023)246: Staff Working Document accompanying the Proposal - Impact Assessment Report https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=SWD:2023:246:FIN

EUR-LEX: SWD(2023)247: Staff Working Document accompanying the Proposal - Executive Summary of the Impact Assessment Report https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=SWD:2023:247:FIN

European Commission: Press Release, 12/07/2023: Commission proposes to strengthen the rights of victims of crime https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_3724

European Commission: Questions and Answers: Amending the Victims' Rights Directive (12 July 2023) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_23_3725

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