Additional rights of victims of domestic violence

As a victim of domestic violence, you have the right to a legal representative in the proceedings. The legal representative is an attorney at law, i.e. a lawyer who is well acquainted with the rules of criminal or misdemeanour procedure and the rights of victims in such 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 rule, you bear the costs of hiring an attorney yourself, unless you are entitled to one at the expense of the budget under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act, for example, if you are a child or a victim of sexual crime or human trafficking - in such cases, the attorney's costs are covered by the government.

As a victim of domestic violence, you have the right to be questioned by a person of the same sex as you at the police station. As a rule, the victim is first questioned by the police. And once you've been questioned by the police, a renewed questioning will sometimes be necessary. In that case, you have the right to be questioned by the same police officer who has already questioned you.

As a victim of domestic violence, you have the right to have law enforcement authorities act in a way that avoids possible contact between you and the defendant. For example, during the questioning at a police station or at the state attorney's office. They will organise actions in such a way as to avoid your meeting, for example, in the hallway of a police station or court.

In addition, you can request a special way of questioning in court, by using audio-visual means, during which you will not come into contact with the defendant. Such an interrogation is conducted in such a way that you are in a separate room, while the defendant is in another room. You will not see or hear the defendant, you will not be asked questions directly by the defendant, but by the judge conducting the interrogation. The entire testimony will be recorded with an audio-video recording device and the recording will be able to be used as evidence in criminal proceedings. As a rule, the purpose of the recording is to avoid renewed interrogation of the victim at the hearing, because the recording of the testimony will be reproduced at the hearing and will be used as evidence. Whether you will be questioned in this manner will be decided by the court.

If you tell the police that you would like to be placed in an appropriate institution (so-called shelter for victims of domestic violence), the police officer is obliged to immediately inform the competent social welfare centre about your request. The centre will take into account the reasons why you are requesting such accommodation and place you in an appropriate institution of a social welfare body, other institution or association. You can also contact a victim and witness support department, a social welfare centre or an association directly, depending on your choice, to resolve your accommodation. You will receive the addresses and telephone numbers of these institutions and organizations located in the area of your residence from the police.

 

When leaving the joint household, the police will provide you with protection on the basis of a misdemeanor court order (order), which the court can issue after initiating misdemeanor proceedings. As a rule, the court issues this measure if the defendant is not deprived of liberty, but it can also issue it when the defendant is deprived of liberty if other family members pose a danger. The order should state what things you can take with you, and these are the essentials (e.g. documents, clothes, shoes, supplies for children, etc.). Police officers will go to your apartment with you and ensure unhindered collection of personal belongings and physical protection from attacks.

If the defendant in criminal proceedings has been remanded in custody or pre-trial detention, or if the defendant in misdemeanour proceedings has been detained or one of the protective measures or precautionary measures has been ordered against them, or if the offender is serving a prison sentence, you as a victim have the right to be informed of their release from custody or detention, escape of the defendant, lifting of protective measures or precautionary measures, or release of the offender from prison, but only if you wish so. You will typically receive a notice of release from custody or detention from the police, and a notice of escape or release of the offender from prison from the Victim and Witness Support Service of the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation. Therefore, you will be asked by the law enforcement authorities (police, state attorney's office, court) to choose whether you want to be notified of the release of the defendant or offender. You can also request the exercise of this right from the above-mentioned authorities.