Additional rights of victims of criminal offences against sexual freedom and the criminal offence of human trafficking

The victim of a criminal offence for which the prescribed sentence is more than five years, who suffers serious consequences from that offence, has the right to professional assistance of a legal counsel, at the expense of the state budget, for the submission of a claim for indemnification. The victim can exercise this right by requesting the court to appoint a counsel for them, and then the court will appoint a legal representative.

As a victim of a crime against sexual freedom or of human trafficking, you are entitled to free assistance by a legal representative. The legal representative is appointed by the court, and the costs of their services are covered from the state budget. The legal representative is an attorney at law, ie a lawyer who is well acquainted with the rules of criminal procedure and the rights of victims in criminal proceedings. The attorney will help you understand the criminal proceedings, understand your rights in the proceedings, and make the best use of those rights to your advantage. Your attorney will represent you in court in criminal proceedings and will help you exercise your right to indemnification.

As a victim of a crime against sexual freedom or of human trafficking, you have the right to be interviewed by a person of the same sex as you at the police station and the state attorney's office. As a rule, the victim is first questioned by the police. And once you've been interviewed by the police, another interview will sometimes be necessary. In that case, you have the right to be interviewed by the same police officer who has already questioned you.

As a victim of a crime against sexual freedom or of human trafficking, you have the right to refuse to answer a question relating to your strictly personal life if that question is not directly related to the crime, i.e. unless the answer would be relevant to proving the defendant's guilt and the criminal offence. For example, you don’t have to answer a question about how many partners you’ve had so far or a question about your sexual preferences and habits.

As a victim of a crime against sexual freedom or of human trafficking, you have the right to request a special method of questioning, to be interviewed using an audio-video device, during which you will not come into contact with the defendant. Specifically, you will be in a separate room during the questioning, and your attorney and a trusted person of your choice may be present. The defendant will be in another room. You will not see or hear the defendant, and will not be asked questions directly by the defendant, but by the judge, because the recording of the interview will be reproduced at the hearing and will be used as evidence. Exceptionally, if repeated questioning is necessary, it will be carried out in the manner described, without direct contact with the defendant.

As a victim of a crime against sexual freedom or of human trafficking, you have the right to the confidentiality of personal data. This means that all participants in criminal proceedings, police officers, state attorneys, judges, expert witnesses and others who may have participated in criminal proceedings, must not give anyone the personal data that could reveal your identity or other personal data.

As a victim of a crime against sexual freedom or of human trafficking, you have the right to a non-public hearing, so the court is obliged to exclude the public from all or part of the hearing in order to protect your privacy and interests.