Evaluation Results
Assessing the Effectiveness of EU Legal Frameworks
Evaluation is key to understanding the effectiveness of legal frameworks regarding how these contribute to improving the lives of victims across the European setting.
As such, you can access a full evaluation report from the European Commission regarding the 2012 Victims’ Directive, or see the summarised version below.
Insights from the European Commission Report
EU Report Summary
For victims
Effective implementation and challenges:
Right to Information
Positive Notes
- Standardisation of the existing systems of information provision.
- Requests to tailor the information to the specific victim group.
Key Principles
Improvement Notes
- Authorities’ lack of awareness of certain victims groups’ rights.
- Poor knowledge on where to find information, which tends to be fragmented, without follow-up on efficacy.
Right to Access Justice
Positive Notes
- National improvement on procedural rights.
- Adoption of good practices nationally (e.g., victim impact assessment; partnerships between courts and victim support services).
- Digitalisation of justice.
Right to Access Justice
Improvement Notes
- Judicial authorities’ fragile sensitivity in communication.
- Challenging deadlines in criminal proceedings.
- Limited awareness on victims’ rights.
Right to Access Support Services
Positive Notes
- Greater availability of support services (general + specific) and easier crime reporting mechanisms.
Right to Access Support Services
Improvement Notes
- Difficulties in timely securing support services, especially in rural areas.
- Lack of legal and administrative clarity.
Right to protection
Positive Notes
- Development of national good practices (.e.g., practical questionnaire to facilitate individual assessments).
- Limiting the number of interviews/inquiries and medical examinations.
Right to Access Support Services
Improvement Notes
- Lack of practical means to ensure victims and defendants don’t cross paths.
- Need for further guidance, training and consistency on how to assess vulnerability to secondary and repeat victimisation.
EU Report Summary
For Professionals
Effective implementation and challenges:
Training
Positive Notes
- Increase in the training provided to judicial practitioners across Member states.
Training
Improvement Notes
- Despite the greater availability of training, both its quantity and quality were pinpointed as needing improvement.
- General training content, which doesn’t meet practitioners’ or victims’ needs.
- Lack of awareness on practitioners on how to recognise and manage their own biases.
- Lack of training on soft skills.
Challenges
- Low levels of attendance.
- Mandatory was negatively evaluated, as authorities prefer to have guidelines and resources they can use whenever necessary.
Major Reccommendations
- Encourage inter-disciplinary training, gathering authorities with communities, building both cooperation and trust.
- Ensure training is available and professionals are encouraged to attend.
- Provide guidance through different types of training.
In Practice
Did it Make a Difference?
The evaluation showcased some positive elements; both for victims and practitioners.
However, it also emphasised some cross-cutting issues, which hamper the correct implementation of the Directive, namely:
Challenges & Actions
Issues
- Lack of cooperation between the different relevant authorities.
- Lack of cooperative platforms and troubled referral.
- Lack of understanding of the complexities of victimisation.
Efficiency Concerns
- Assumption: Meeting victims’ needs throughout criminal justice proceedings would mitigate the costs of revictimisation, reducing the total costs of crime.
- Findings: Lack of data to ascertain if cost savings were achieved.
Challenges
- Lack of financial and human resources allocated within Member states to ensure the Directive implementation, highlighting professionals’ training, access to compensation, and the provision of long-term support services as the most problematic areas.
- Lack of national legislation to ensure the Directive’s implementation, which is especially pressing for vulnerable victims.
Potential Actions
- Create online hotlines for tailored support.
Create checklists or protocols to ease information sharing. - Promote greater sensitivity towards victims’ needs and vulnerabilities.
- Introduction of technological tools.
- Establishment of victim-friendly court rooms and justice-related environments.
