- VICTIM SUPPORT
- THE RIGHTS OF VICTIMS OF CRIME
- Victims right to understand and to be understood
- Right to receive information from the very first contact with the competent authority
- Victims’ rights when making a complaint
- Victims’ right to receive information about their case
- The right to translation
- The right to access victim support services
- Support from victim support services
- Right to safeguards in terms of restorative justice services
- Victims’ rights who reside in another EU member state
- Right to avoid contact between victim and offender
- Victim protection during the criminal investigation
- Protection of private life
- Individual assessment of victims- Special protection
- Right to protection of victims with special needs during criminal proceedings
- Rights of the witness of crime
- CRIMINAL COURT PROCEEDINGS
- WHO IS WHO IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
- I WAS A VICTIM OF CRIME: COMMON REACTIONS
VICTIM
Anyone can be the victim of a crime.
Don’t think that it only happens to others.
A victim of crime is someone who, as a result of an infringement of criminal law, has been subjected to an attack on his/her life or physical or mental integrity, or to emotional distress or material loss.
The close relatives of or persons for whom the victim is directly responsible are also considered victims, as are those who suffered any kind of damage as a result of trying to help the victims or stop the crime against them.
According to Law 4478/2017 (Article 55) a victim is defined as:
(aa) a natural person who has suffered damage, including injury to body or health or damage to honor or morals or financial loss, or deprivation of liberty, directly caused by a criminal offence,
(bb) the next of kin of a person whose death was directly caused by a criminal act and who have a claim for compensation for mental suffering under the Civil Code or who were in direct material dependence on that person.
(b) ‘Intimate partners’ means spouses, a person living with the victim in a close, stable and continuous heterosexual or homosexual union, engaged couples, and relatives by blood and marriage in a direct line, adoptive parents and adopted children, brothers and sisters and the spouses and fiance(e)s of brothers and sisters, and persons dependent on the victim other than his or her dependent children.
So, in short, you are a victim of a crime if you have suffered loss or damage from a crime under our national law.
If you were or are a victim of crime, you should report it to the authorities. To find out more about how to report a crime, click here.
Victims have rights from their very first contact with the police or other competent authority, during, and after the criminal proceedings. The recognition of victims’ rights is non-discriminatory and applies to crimes that can be prosecuted in the European Union, regardless of the victim’s place of residence or nationality.
In addition, victims have the right to be protected throughout the criminal investigation and proceedings. For this reason, the law provide general and special protection for victims.
These rights concern the avoidance of contact with the offender, the protection of victims during criminal investigations, the right to privacy, and the individual assessment of victims to determine whether there are grounds for special protection needs.
What is the role of the victim in criminal proceedings?
In Greece, all victims have the right to participate in criminal proceedings, either under the legal requirement to participate as witnesses after reporting an offence to the Police or the Public Prosecutor’s Office, or as litigants if they so wish.
The victim of a crime has many rights and it is important to be aware of them, See the rights here.
The rights of victims of crime are a priority for the EU. Read information on the European Strategy on Victims’ Rights here.
All victims are subject to a legal requirement to participate as witnesses. If the witness who has filed a criminal complaint (pressed charges), refuses to participate or does not appear in court to testify, he or she may be punished for the offence of failing to testify.
The role of victims becomes more active when the victim chooses to participate in criminal proceedings as a party to the prosecution (civil claimant), since he or she will be able to be represented by a lawyer, have access to the case file, the right to appoint an expert, and the right to claim compensation.