Funding agreement worth €95,000 for National Call Centre 116 006 signed

Minister of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation Damir Habijan and Executive Director of Victim and Witness Support Service Croatia Miren Špek signed the new one-year Agreement on Financing the Programme of the National Call Centre 

The value of the signed contract is 95,000 euros.

Since 2017, the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation and the Victim and Witness Support Service Croatia have been concluding one-year funding agreements for the National Call Centre.

The cooperation also includes the signing of a three-year Cooperation Agreement to secure the operation of the National Call Centre.

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

The 116 006 hotline is open every day and available to victims and witnesses all 365 days a year, ensuring the application of Article 24 of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

Victims and witnesses of criminal offences and misdemeanours can receive information on their rights and the course of criminal and misdemeanour proceedings, emotional support, information on relevant civil society organisations and institutions they can contact, different practical information and assistance in filling in the application form for financial compensation.

New support option - assistance to victims through chat

 From its establishment until September 2026, the National Call Centre received over 24,791 calls.
 
In addition, for the purpose of effective assistance and support to victims, since 1 April 2026 all police departments in Croatia have been engaged in the advanced referral of victims to the Victim and Witness Support Service Croatia or to the National Call Centre for Victims of Crimes - 116 006.
 
Based on this cooperation, when informing victims about their rights, police officers also offer them a structured consent form to sign in order to give consent for their contact details to be provided to the National Call Centre via a secure e-mail address, after which the National Call Centre proactively contacts the victims by telephone within 48 hours to identify the victim's needs and provide the necessary assistance and support.
 
In 2022, the National Call Centre for Victims of Crime introduced chat as an additional tool or service for victim and witness support, in addition to the already existing free hotline 116 006.
 
As part of the project “Changing the accessibility of Tools for Victims” (CHAT for Victims, https://pzs.hr/list-projects-2022/chat-for-victims/), the Victim and Witness Support Service Croatia, as the project promoter, together with European partners, has conducted extensive research and testing to prepare for the creation of a chat application that would include accessible adjustments for persons with disabilities.
 
The chat application was published on the VWSSC website in April 2025 and is currently available on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

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