State Secretary Vedrana Šimundža Nikolić participated in the 38th conference of Victim Support Europe (VSE), the European umbrella organisation supporting crime victims, held in Zagreb on 22 and 23 May.
On that occasion, the State Secretary reminded of the friendly cooperation between the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation and VSE, which the Ministry had joined in 2013.
The victim support system in Croatia has been continuously developed since 2006, with a Victim and Witness Support Division within the Ministry and victim and witness support departments within individual courts.
“We are proud to say that we have established 13 victim and witness support departments at 13 county courts so far, which also provide support at municipal courts, as well as a victim and witness support department at one of the two largest municipal courts in Croatia -the Municipal Court in Split. It remains for us to establish such a department at two remaining county courts and one large municipal court - the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb”, pointed out State Secretary Šimundža Nikolić.
The Ministry has also established and finances a Network of Support and Cooperation for Victims and Witnesses of Criminal Offences, comprising 10 civil society organisations and a network coordinator, which provide assistance and support to victims and witnesses in 17 Croatian counties.
Explaining that this provides Croatian citizens with assistance and support wherever they are, the State Secretary took the opportunity to emphasise and thank for the particularly good cooperation with the police and other stakeholders who come into direct contact with the victims.
“I would also like to recall that our Ministry also finances the work of civil society organisations, including the National Call Centre for Victims of Crime 116 006, which is a co-organiser of this conference”, said the State Secretary.
She went on to express pride in the fact that the novelties in the proposed amendments to the Victims’ Rights Directive had already been implemented in Croatia for a long time: individual victim needs assessment to ensure protection measures, information for victims available on the websites of all important institutions, video conferencing used for the purpose of victim protection, anonymisation of decisions and personal data of victims, as well as the training of judges and state attorneys on the treatment of particularly vulnerable victims.
The State Secretary also highlighted the latest amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act from April this year, as part of a package of criminal legislation introducing numerous changes aimed at strengthening the rights of crime victims. Specifically, the focus of the amendments was to improve criminal law institutes to enable stronger and more effective protection for victims of domestic violence and violence against women.
“We are aware that there is always room for further improvement, and will make every effort to encourage our further cooperation, to achieve better protection of crime victims and promotion of their rights”, State Secretary Šimundža Nikolić concluded.
Apart from the State Secretary, Head of the Victims and Witness Support Division Nikica Hamer Vidmar participated in the conference and spoke during a panel discussion on building strong national support systems.
Photo: Victim Support Europe
