22 February – European Day for Victims of Crime: Over 3,000 victims and witnesses of crime a year in Croatia

On the occasion of the European Day for Victims of Crime, a conference entitled “System of Support Victim and Witness Support System in Croatia – Past and Present” was held at the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration on 22 February.

The victim and witness support system in Croatia is based on the support provided by the victim and witness support departments at seven county courts and the Network of Support and Cooperation for Victims and Witnesses of Criminal Offences.

Since their establishment in 2008, the county court departments have provided support to 46,968 victims and witnesses. Victims and witnesses have the right to emotional support before, during and after court proceedings, the right to be accompanied during deposition, the right to be informed about the stages of criminal or misdemeanour proceedings and the right to be informed of the prisoner’s release.

Deputy Minister of Justice and Public Administration Vedran Šimundža-Nikolić stressed that the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration is marking the European Day for Victims of Crime with the aim of raising public awareness about the fact that the system has existed in Croatia since 2006. The Ministry itself has a Victim and Witness Support Division within its internal organisation, which coordinates the entire system, and seven county courts in Croatia have victim and witness support departments that have an operational character and are in constant contact with victims of crime, said the Assistant Minister.

The Ministry has continuously made efforts to improve the system in order to additionally inform and empower victims so that they would go through certain processes as painlessly as possible. The main goal is to make the system available in all counties in Croatia, and in particular to the most vulnerable groups such as women, children and people with disabilities, concluded Assistant Minister Šimundža-Nikolić.
 
Strengthening the victim and witness support system

By establishing a Victim and Witness Support Department in 10 new courts – eight county and two municipal courts, in Zagreb and Split – the institutional framework for providing emotional support to victims and informing them about their rights will become more accessible to all victims. In cooperation with the Network of Support and Cooperation for Victims and Witnesses of Criminal Offences, additional support has already been provided in 17 counties.

It was pointed out at the conference that Croatia has about 50,000 injured persons per year, which proves the importance and the need for such a system, and it is the Croatian model that is unique among the member states of the European Union and the Council of Europe. The specificity of the system is manifested in its general character, meaning that it provides support to all victims regardless of the type of crime and gender.

Statistics show that between 2013 and 2022, a total of 9,640 victims were registered in the system, of which 958 children, while additional support was requested by 234 victims, said Nikica Hamer Vidmar, Head of the Victim and Witness Support Division.
 
116-006 – free helpline for victims – change starts with a call
 
In October, the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration signed a new Agreement on Financing the Programme of the National Call Centre 116-006.

The National Call Centre for Victims of Crimes and Misdemeanours was established in 2013 as a project of the association Victim and Witness Support Service Croatia, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), making Croatia the fifth European country to introduce a free standardised helpline for support to victims and witnesses – 116 006.

The National Call Centre helpline is free and anonymous, and is available 24/7.
 
The conference was held within the project “Improving the quality of the judiciary by strengthening the capacities of prison and probation system and victim and witness support system“, the total value of which is EUR 1,217,455.70 (HRK 9.172.920,00).

                                                                                                                       

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