Member States shall ensure that victims of crime have an effective remedy under national law, in the event of a breach of their rights under this Directive.

This new article introduces legal remedies for all victims of crime. As noted in both a 2019 FRA report[1] and the VOCIARE report[2], this addresses the poor implementation of victims’ rights and victims general inability to access effective systems in Member States to ensure violations of their rights are redressed and enforced. A lack of legal remedies perpetuates a general view that victims’ rights are suggestions rather than legally binding obligations[3]. 

The proposed amendment aligns with the European Commission’s proposal for a revised Directive (Article 26d) as well as existing effective remedies articles in EU legislation for suspects or accused persons, for example:

• Article 10 (Remedies) of Directive 2016/343 2016 on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings[4];
• Article 12 (Remedies) of Directive 2013/48/EU on the right to access a lawyer[5];
• Article 19 (Remedies) of Directive 2016/800 on the rights of children who are suspects or accused[6] .

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[1] Justice for victims of violent crimes, EU Fundamental Rights Agency, 2019, available at: https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2019-justice-for-victims-of-violent-crime-part-1-standards_en.pdf

[2] VOCIARE Synthesis report, Victim Support Europe et al., 2019, available at: https://victim-support.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/VOCIARE_Synthesis_Report.pdf

[3] Safe justice for victims of crime, Victim Support Europe, 2023, available at: https://victim-support.eu/publications/safe-justice-for-victims-of-crime-discussion-paper/

[4] Directive 2016/343 2016 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 9 March 2016, on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings (2016)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32016L0343

[5] DIRECTIVE 2013/48/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 22 October 2013 on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and in European arrest warrant proceedings, and on the right to have a third party informed upon deprivation of liberty and to communicate with third persons and with consular authorities while deprived of liberty, available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32013L0048

[6] Directive (EU) 2016/800 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings, available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32016L0800