Article 5 – Right of victims when making a complaint

1) Member States shall ensure that victims receive a written acknowledgement of their formal complaint, made by them to the competent authority of a Member State ~~stating~~ which includes a written copy of their testimony and states the basic elements of the criminal offence concerned.

2) Member States shall ensure that victims who wish to make a complaint with regard to a criminal offence and who indicate that they do not sufficiently understand or speak the language of the competent authority ~~be enabled to~~ are offered the opportunity to make the complaint in a language that they understand or ~~by receiving~~ to receive the necessary linguistic assistance.

3) Member States shall ensure that victims who do not sufficiently understand or speak the language of the competent authority, are offered the opportunity to receive translation, free of charge, of the written acknowledgement of their complaint provided for in paragraph 1,~~if they so request,~~ in a language that they understand.

COMMENTARY – Article 5

The right of victims when making a complaint was not amended by the Commission. VSE’s study on the 2018 implementation of the VRD[1] described how Member States failed – in practice – to implement this right; only one third of victims (35%) received written acknowledgement of their complaint[2]. Moreover, information contained in a written acknowledgement may be limited and may not include details provided by the victim, which could be later used or documented by the police.

VSE’s amendment seeks to close these gaps and enable victims to determine whether their initial statement had been recorded correctly.

The amendment seeks to overcome problems with language comprehension; victims may feel they do not understand, or cannot communicate well within, the proceedings. These concerns may be ignored by authorities; in general, when the victim has some knowledge of the language of proceedings (yet may struggle with the specialist language used). The amendment promotes the empowerment of victims and helps ensure that pertinent (personal) information is correctly taken by the authorities and understood by the victim.

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

[2] For more information please see VSE Policy paper ‘Safe justice for victims of crime’, 2023, available at: https://victim-support.eu/publications/safe-justice-for-victims-of-crime-discussion-paper/

Key Problems

1) Procedure is not established within the national legal framework

In some countries the right is not yet systematically established, and, in some cases or areas, victims do not receive the formal acknowledgement of the complaint.
When the right is enshrined in national legislation, in some cases the access to linguistic assistant through interpretation is dependent on the victim/witness’ role and participation in proceedings. Therefore, only once they are granted this status in the proceeding, they can address the authorities in their own language.

2) Lack of knowledge about the right

There seems to be a lack of knowledge, both on authorities’ side and on the victim’s side, about this right. This leads authorities to fail to deliver the acknowledgement and victims to not formulate the request.
Previous reports indicate instances in which victims were being charged or threatened with costs when they insist on receiving the acknowledgment of the complaint, which is an alarming example.

3) Lack of resources to guarantee the right

Even in Member States in which the right to linguistic assistance is provided by law, it is still possible to identify some gaps in practice. Most of the issues steam from a shortage of available translators, which challenges guaranteeing that interpreters are always available when a victim needs linguistic assistance to present a complaint.

Data on the Implementation of Right

Provision of a written acknowledgement of complaint

Only in one third of the cases victims are systematically provided with a written acknowledgement of the complaint (35% of cases).

10% of victims never receive this written acknowledgement, despite the direct obligation stemming from the Directive.

16% of victims only sometimes receive a written acknowledgement.

3% of victims never receive a written acknowledgement.

(Source: VOCIARE Synthesis Report, Victim Support Europe, 2019)

Ability to make a complaint in the victim’s own language

38% of professionals consulted consider that victims are always enabled to make a complaint in their own language.

In 54% of cases, professionals consider that victims only enjoy this right sometimes or rarely.

More than 8% of professionals experience that victims never have access to this right.

(Source: VOCIARE Synthesis Report, Victim Support Europe, 2019)

Right to linguistic assistance

It is enshrined in the national legislation of 22 Member States (AT, CY, CZ, DE, EE, EL, ES, BE, FI, HR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SE and SI)

(Source: VOCIARE Synthesis Report, Victim Support Europe, 2019)

Best Practices of Member States

Bulgaria: complaint forms in different languages

The Minister of Interior has approved standard forms for complaints, available in 5 languages, with the goal of facilitating the reporting of foreign citizens.

Czech Republic: Transcript of victim’s statement

The police officers automatically give the victim a confirmation of their criminal complaint, in the form of a transcript of their statement.

Germany: written acknowledgement of the formal complaint

In general, victims receive a written acknowledgement of the formal complaint. When making the application they also receive all relevant information concerning their case as envisaged by the Directive.