apav.pt

 

 

 

 

The Project VinE - Victims in Europe promoted by APAV, on behalf of Victim Support Europe, started in 1st of December 2007 and will have the duration of 2 years. It aims to provide the European Commission and other interested parties with a fuller and more comparative picture of the effects of the Council Framework Decision on the Standing of Victims in Criminal Proceedings (2001/220/JAI) in the legislation of the 27 Member States and on the practical support to victims of crime.

This research, undertaken in cooperation with the International Victimology Institute (INTERVICT), will also include the evaluation of the legislation of the EU countries in a material sense. The compliance with the Framework Decision will be reviewed, by means of two surveys: one concerning the legal implementation and another about the organisational implementation. Besides the important outcomes of the project concerning the present status of the implementation of the Framework Decision in the 27 Member States, the report will promote a national governmental awareness, regarding necessary improvements in the position of victims.

Therefore, Project VinE - Victims in Europe will deliver a rich portrait of the standing of victims across the European Union to the European Commission, but also to Member States and organisations active within the field of victims of crime. On a more abstract level this will provide the European Commission with information of the effectiveness of Framework Decisions within the field of criminal justice, in affecting change in the organisational make-up of criminal justice procedures within Member States. Other important aspect is the relationship established with the EU official dedicated to this work field, that will allow strengthen connections, exchange knowledge and inform on the results achieved and the development of the activities.

On the 25th and 26th June 2009, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon held the Victims in Europe – 23rd Annual Conference of Victim Support Europe. This Seminar was attended by 260 participants from 37 different countries and was an important opportunity to present the framework of existing rights and debate whether these rights are in fact being implemented in the European Union.