Victas International Project Final Report Page 1 of 32

VictAS International project – Final report – page 1 of 32

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Table of contents

1Summary ...... 3

2General ...... …...... 5

2.1Introduction ...... 5

2.2Project description ……...... 5

2.3Project aims …...... ………5

2.4Project partners/keynote speakers/participants/project team ……6

2.4.1International project partners...... ………...... 6

2.4.2National project partners...... ………...... 7

2.4.3Keynote speakers ...... 7

2.4.4Participants and project team ...... 7

2.5Financial support ...... 7

3Project progression ...... …...... 8

3.1Chronological sequence (project) ..………...... 8

3.2Chronological sequence (conference) ...……...... 8

4Project financing ...... 9

5Evaluation ...... 9

5.1Participants’ feedback ...... 9

5.2Media/public interest………………...... 9

6Results…………………...... 10

6.1General problems and possible solutions ...... 10

6.2Detailed project results ………...…………………...... 14

6.2.1Current situation in victim support in participating countries .……14

6.2.2Workshop results …………...... 15

6.2.2.1Workshop: “Standards of job training and education”...... 15

6.2.2.2Combined workshop: “Compensation, mediation and holistic approach to victim support” ...... 18

6.2.2.3Workshop: “The victim as a witness” ...... 21

6.2.2.4Workshop: “Domestic violence” ...... 24

6.2.2.5Workshop: “Position of the victim in criminal proceedings” …….. 27

6.3Achievement of objectives ...... ……. 30

7Final remarks ...... 31

8Enclosures ...... 32

1. Summary

In recent years a number of steps have been taken – at national as well as EU levels – to improve the legal position of victims in criminal proceedings and to provide additional support services and preventive measures in this field. The Council of the European Union’s framework decision of March 15th 2001 set EU-wide standards for the improvement of the situation of victims.

The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Sport of Lower Saxony (Federal Republic of Germany) contributed to the practical implementation of the framework decision by setting up the VictAS (Victim Assistance and Support) international project. This project was made possible with financial support from the European Union’s AGIS programme.

The Police Departments of Brunswick and Hanover were entrusted with the management, organisation and execution of the project. Partners from Lithuania, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Germany were integrated into the project’s realisation.

The aims of the project were the international exchange of experience, best practice and models; the discussion of current problems as well as the development of possible solutions and recommendations for interdisciplinary strategies/activities for a further implementation of the framework decision; raising awareness of people working within the criminal justice system; and improving international co-operation.

Prior to the international conference, the progress on implementation of the Council of Europe’s recommendation (85) 11 and of the Council of the European Union’s framework decision of March 15th 2001 was investigated with the help of a questionnaire filled in by the participants or the registered contacts. The results were shown in a comparative survey and widespread problems could thus be highlighted for examination during the course of the project.

The core of the project was the conference with 91 experts participating, from the police, justice departments and other governmental and non-governmental organisations who were nominated by 23 out of 29 European countries invited. The participants took part in workshops entitled “job training and education”, “holistic approach/compensation/mediation”, “the victim as a witness”, “domestic violence” and “the position of the victim in criminal proceedings”. Practices and models were introduced into the workshops and current problems were defined in order to develop possible solutions and recommendations for action.

The conference also served as a platform for communication beyond both individual areas of responsibility and national borders.

The project as a whole met with a good response from the media, who gave positive reports in the press, on television and the radio. This substantiates the general requirement to implement both the recommendations developed in the workshops and the EU framework decision. Further, it supports the advance of victim support and victims‘ rights in Europe through the medium of further research in a framework of international co-operation.

The project objectives were thus achieved to a high degree and this is also reflected in the project evaluation results and the feedback from the participants.

The new and wide-ranging contacts made during the project facilitated the exchange of experience and laid the foundations for a European network to help improve European co-operation.

In view of the common goal of improved victim support and uniform standards in Europe, current problems were defined and recommendations for action were developed to deal with the problems identified.

The following recommendations form the core of the research into the current situation, combined with the workshop results. For details, see Section 6 of this report.

• The position of the victim in the criminal justice system should be improved to grant the right to participation, e.g. to bring in a petition for evidence, and to question the defendant directly.
• The provision of legal aid should be seen as an obligation for government institutions.
• Victims of crime should be entitled to information regarding the progress and the outcome of the proceedings.
• The introduction of both the legal and the practical facility to make use of videotaped interrogations even beyond national borders would reduce the stress for victims and increase their willingness to testify.
• Victim support should be offered in a co-ordinated way at an early stage of the proceedings and provision should be tailored to the appropriate target group. Uniform standards must be set for all assistance offered.
• The training of persons directly or indirectly working with victims of crime or having contact with victims, should be carried out according to minimum standards and fixed criteria.
• Legal tools should be instituted to progress victims‘ claims for adequate compensation.
• Victim support must be viewed from a holistic perspective: all institutions and organisations involved must work together in a rapid and co-ordinated manner.

Given these observations and possible solutions, it would be desirable to develop victim assistance and support across the EU and to take steps in the form of legal instruments, training and international workshops, in order to – in particular – increase co-ordinated collaboration and to extend a victim’s right to information.

1. General

2.1Introduction

The situation of victims of crime has received increasing public attention over the last few years. There is a pressing need both to improve the legal position of victims during criminal proceedings and to provide additional support services.

The Council of the European Union’s decision of March 15th 2001 regarding the legal position of victims during criminal proceedings sets minimum standards that require a ‘joined-up’ approach.

The Ministry of the Interior and Sports of Lower Saxony (Federal Republic of Germany) has set up the international project VictAS (Victim Assistance and Support) as its contribution to the practical realisation of the framework decision, intended to develop, encourage and improve partnership work between the participating countries.

2.2Project description

With the help of a questionnaire – filled in by the participants registered for the conference – the current situation regarding the legal position of victims in criminal proceedings was investigated. Special problems in the field of victim support reported in the course of this research served as basis for the workshop topics.

The core of the project was an international conference to which experts from the police, criminal justice departments and other governmental and non-governmental organisations were invited, nominated by the EU member states, new member states, applicant countries and (to a limited degree) third countries.

Over the course of the conference these experts were expected to discuss current problems of crime victims, get to know topic-related models of other countries, develop possible solutions for an improved legal position for victims and to work out recommendations for action by the EU.

2.3Project aims

Besides developing, encouraging and improving the co-operation of member states and new member states, the project was intended to contribute to the implementation of the Council of the European Union’s framework decision of March 15th 2001, in particular relation to the following:

• (Art. 3) hearings and provision of evidence
• (Art. 6) specific assistance to victims
• (Art. 10) penal mediation in the course of criminal proceedings
• (Art. 14) training of staff involved in proceedings or otherwise in contact with victims
• Improving the co-operation of institutions within the criminal justice system
• Improving professional competence of experts working within the criminal justice system

Overall, the following objectives were to be attained within the project:

• international exchange of experience, best practice and current projects concerning victim assistance and support, especially in the fields of sexual offences, offences against property, domestic violence and juvenile delinquency as well as issues concerning out of court settlements, including victim-offender mediation.
• building of a European network to facilitate, simplify and intensify the future international exchange of information and experience in the field of victim assistance and criminal prevention – especially through personal contacts.
• improvements in awareness and the level of knowledge of legislation, proceedings and procedures of the various European countries; and improvements in the training of people within penal law institutions and non-governmental and governmental organisations regarding the situation and rights of crime victims.
• Drawing up of recommendations for interdisciplinary strategies and activities relating to co-operation between police, criminal justice authorities and other governmental and non-governmental organisations in the field of victim assistance and crime prevention, and for interdisciplinary structures to support victims in the course of criminal proceedings.
• improvement of co-operation between member states of the European Union, applicant countries and European third countries.
• Preparation of a comparative survey on the current state of affairs relating to victims’ rights and the handling of victims of crime in European countries; plus the drawing up of recommendations for action.

2.4Project partners/keynote speakers/participants/project team

By nominating competent and highly motivated experts, each individual State, authority and institution contributed significantly to the success of the project.

The following organisations agreed to assist in the preparation and execution of the project:

2.4.1 International project partners

• Garda Human Rights Office (Republic of Ireland)
• Police Brabant Zuid-Oost (The Netherlands)
• Centre for Crime Prevention in Lithuania (Lithuania)
• Devon and Cornwall Police (United Kingdom)
• Swedish National Police Board, Policing Management Division (Sweden)

2.4.2 National project partners

• University of Applied Science Brunswick/Wolfenbüttel
• Lower Saxony Criminology Research Institute
• Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice
• White CircleGermany (Weißer Ring Deutschland)
• Lower Saxony Foundation for Victim Assistance (Stiftung Opferhilfe Niedersachsen)

2.4.3 Keynote speakers

• Dame Helen Reeves (United Kingdom), Victim Support U.K., on the topic “Victims’ rights and services – the challenge of implementation”
• Henrik Belfrage (Sweden), Forensic Psychiatry Centre, on the topic

“Police-based structured spousal risk assessment using the SARA model”

• Jan van Dijk (The Netherlands) United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on the topic

“Supporting victims of crime – a United Nations perspective”

• Christian Pfeiffer (Germany), Lower Saxony Criminology Research Institute on the topic

“Victim Assistance and Support in Lower Saxony – a multi faceted approach based on empirical findings”

The speeches or rather the transcription of the speeches’ videotaping can be found in enclosure 4.

2.4.4 Participants and project team

A total of 91 experts from 23 countries participated in this international conference in Brunswick and Hanover from February 16th – 19th 2004. For details regarding the participants and the project team, see Enclosure 7.

2.5 Financial support

On February 28th 2003 an application was made for financial support for the project from the AGIS programme. The overall costs of the project were estimated at 69,178.00 Euros. The sum of 48,319.60 Euros applied for as financial support was granted along with approval for the project. The White Circle (Weißer Ring) supported the project to the sum of 3,000.00 Euros.

1. Project progression

3.1 Chronological sequence (project)

September 2002 Preparing stages; drawing up the concept; identifying national and international project partners and experts.

February 28th 2003Application for financial support at the EU Commission

September 2003Verbal approval of the EU Commission regarding the financial support.

September 19th 2003 Staffing the VictAS project office.

October 6th/7th 2003Pre-conference with the project partners; refinement of the concept, project questionnaire and workshop planning.

October 28th 2003Written approval of the EU Commission regarding financial support.

November 2003Despatch of invitations to all EU member states, new member states, applicant countries and third countries; continued refinement of the concept; completion of project questionnaires.

December 19th 2003Beginning to despatch questionnaires to nominated participants/contacts of the nations and institutions invited.

January 2004Beginning to prepare a comparative survey on the basis of information provided by the questionnaires returned.

February 2004Placing of the comparative survey on the following website: (click on: Das Thema, VictAS, Status Quo).

from February 13th 2004Arrival of conference participants.

February 16th – 19th 2004International conference in Hanover and Brunswick.

June 30th 2004End of the project; final report.

from July 2004Dissemination of results.

3.2 Chronological sequence (conference)

After the keynote speeches by the international experts mentioned above, participants took part in workshops on the following topics:

• Standards of job training and education in victim support work
• Compensation, mediation and holistic approach to victim support
• The victim as a witness
• Domestic violence
• Position of the victim in criminal proceedings

During the course of the conference participants were introduced to models and projects of individual nations. The presentation of the final workshop results concluded the conference. For further details, please see Enclosures 2 and 3.

4Project financing

According to the itemised bill the total costs of the project amount to

70,078.66 Euros (As at 30.06.2004).

Shared between the 91 participants, the costs total

770,09 Euros per participant,

in which all costs (accommodation, food, travel costs for the project partners and grants towards the travel costs of participants from the new member states, applicant countries and third states) are included.

Details of the costs incurred can be seen in the final financial statement in Enclosure 8.

5Evaluation

5.1Participants‘ feedback

In order to evaluate the project, the participants were asked to fill in one questionnaire preceding the conference and another one at the end of the conference. The evaluation covered expectations of the conference and whether or not they were met, assessment of the conference results, the practicability of possible solutions and recommendations for action that had been worked out, basic organisational details as well as the use of the contacts network to be built.

Even though the questionnaire preceding the conference had already shown a high level of expectation, the feedback after the conference was extremely positive.

The results were far beyond participants’ expectations in some areas, particularly in regard to the achievement of the objectives and certain specific items on the agenda.

For detailed results of the evaluation and the questionnaires, see Enclosure 6.

5.2Media/public interest

The preparations and the conference itself were accompanied by intensive public relations work. Both the October 2003 pre-conference between the organisers and the project partners in Hanover, and the project conference in February 2004 were covered by regional and national press and regional radio and television stations.

In several articles, some of them full-page articles, regional and national newspapers reported on the conference, describing both the VictAS project and the whole theme of victim support. For details on press coverage, see Enclosure 9 (in German).

It was clear that the media were particularly interested and reported positively for the whole duration of the project. More detailed information about the project can be found on website: (click on: Das Thema, VictAS).

6.Results

The first phase of the project consisted of despatching the project questionnaires to the nations invited. The picture of the current situation resulting from the evaluation of the answers was intended to draw the participants’ attention to the differences across nations and to serve as information.

The core of the project was a four day conference, aimed at information exchange through the introduction of individual projects and the working out of recommendations for action in certain fields of victim assistance and support.

In the results shown below, a great deal of importance was attached to practical methodology.

6.1General problems and possible solutions

During the project, basic fundamental problems in victim assistance and support were determined, which will be shown here along with corresponding recommendations for action. For details, please see the workshop results later in this report.

Major differences became clear in the humanitarian status of victim support in the nations involved. There were also large discrepancies within legal systems and organisational structures that need to be overcome to create a uniform structure of victim support.

Position of the victim within the legal system

As soon as authorities are informed of an issue, the victim of a crime – intentionally or unintentionally – is forced into the role of the witness within formal proceedings. If requested by the prosecutor or the court, the victim as a witness is obliged to make truthful statements, to contribute to a just judgement. Because of the principle of immediacy in the proceedings, the victim is required to attend the trial against the offender, even if it causes additional pain. The fact that the witness is also the victim of that crime is being ignored to the greatest possible extent.

The legal systems of most states do not offer the opportunity of active participation in the proceedings by the victim to represent his or her own interests.

Proposals / Recommendations:

The equality under law of the victim and the other parties during the course of criminal proceedings can effectively prevent the victim from being exploited as a person without rights, simply there to give evidence, and protect him or her from being at the mercy of the two conflicting sides.

With an opportunity to participate actively – by means of filing a petition for evidence or directly questioning the defendant – the victim can influence proceedings and pursue his or her own interests. This should not, however, become an obligation for the victim: it needs to be on a voluntary basis. Not every victim is interested in participating actively in the proceedings. A right to participate could be envisaged, whose extent depends on the degree to which the victim is affected by the crime. In relation to this issue, the provision of legal aid should be considered mandatory for state institutions.