Good practices for protecting victims inside and outside the criminal process”
is a research project coordinated by Luca Lupária, Professor of Criminal Procedure at the University of Milano, with scholars from the Universities of Milano, Bologna and Sevilla and the Association de Recherches Pénales Européennes of Paris. In September 2012 the project was awarded a grant under the specific programme Criminal Justice (call for proposal JUST/2011-2012/JPEN/AG), and it received funding from the European Commission. The research officially started on October 15
th
2012. The action is aimed at creating shared guidelines on the protection of the fundamental rights to which victims are entitled according to the European Union’s laws. The issues touched upon in this field are particularly sensitive. Victims shall be recognised as such and treated in a respectful, responsive and professional manner, without any kind of discrimination, by all actors involved and during all stages of criminal proceedings. Victims shall be as well protected from secondary and repeated victimization, from intimidation and retaliation risks.Thus the instruments provided by the law need to be as effective as possible. Despite the problematicity of the topic, in the contest of criminal justice systems the role of victim was not considered as a main issue for a long time, and the situation changed only after the adoption of the Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings. Since 15 March 2001 several studies have been focusing on the rules governing the position of the victim in the Member States, and its protection is among the top priorities of the Union’s policies in the years to come. However, it is unfortunately still quite common to experience in the actual judicial dynamics both a lack of sensitivity to the matter and a non sufficient knowledge of the victim’s issues. For this reason the European Parliament and the Council have recently adopted the Directive 2012/29/EU, estabilishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA. The key purpose of this new Directive is to ensure that victims of crimes receive appropriate information, support and protection and are able to participate in the criminal proceedings. The project aims therefore at implementing the new Directive 2012/29/EU in a twofold manner: not only through legislative instruments but also practical measures and shared best practices. Due to the transnational structure of the research, the action will focus on Italy, Spain and France, especially regarding the legal comparison between national systems and the analysis of their legal frameworks. All the activities, however, are aimed at scientific results which may also be useful and effective in the other Member States.