11 Standing of victims in criminal
proceedings
| (30638)
9808/09
COM(09) 166
+ ADD1
| Commission Report on the basis of Article 18 of the Council Framework Decision of 15 March 2001 on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings (2001/220/JHA)
Commission Staff Working Document — accompanying document to the Commission's report
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| Legal base | —
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| Department | Justice
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| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 25 March 2010
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 19-xxiv (2008-09), chapter 6 (15 July 2009)
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| To be discussed in Council | No date set
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| Committee's assessment | Legally and politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
11.1 The Council Framework Decision of 15 March 2001 on the
standing of victims in criminal proceedings sets out a number
of rights attaching to victims in criminal proceedings and for
their protection and compensation. These include the possibility
of testifying in court (Article 3); the right to receive various
types of information relevant to the protection of victims (Article
4); the right to advice concerning the role of victims in proceedings
(Article 6); reimbursement of expenses (Article 7); the right
to a suitable level of protection for victims and their families
(Article 8); and the right to compensation (Article 9).
11.2 Article 18 of the Framework Decision requires each Member
State to forward to the Council and the Commission the text of
the provisions enacting its requirements into national law. The
Council is to assess the measures taken by the Member States by
means of a report from the General Secretariat of the Council
based on information provided by the Member States and a written
report from the Commission.
The Commission's report
11.3 The document under scrutiny is the Commission's second
report pursuant to Article 18 of the Framework Decision. In it
the Commission concludes that the implementation of the Framework
Decision is unsatisfactory: national legislation in Member States
contains numerous omissions and largely reflects legislation adopted
prior to the Framework Decision coming into force. The aim of
harmonising legislation in this field has therefore not been achieved.
Moreover, many of the provisions have been implemented through
non-binding guidelines and recommendations, so the Commission
could not assess whether these had been adhered to in practice.
The Commission invited Member States to consider the report and
provide all further relevant information.
Previous scrutiny
11.4 In our meeting of 15 July 2009 we reported on the Government's
response to the Commission's report. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary
of State at the Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach) told us that,
overall, there were a number of issues on which the Commission's
report either did not reflect the current position in the UK or
was mistaken in its assessment of implementation.[31]
Although updated information on the UK's transposition of the
Framework Decision was sent to the Commission during 2008, the
report did not entirely reflect this. The Minister informed us
that the Government would be writing to the Commission and the
Council, as invited in the report, to provide them with the latest
information on the UK's implementation of the Framework Decision.
11.5 We found it surprising that the Commission's
report should have misconstrued so many national provisions in
relation to victims in criminal proceedings, and queried the value
that could be placed on it as a consequence. We asked to be made
aware of the Commission's response to the Minister's letter before
clearing the Commission report from scrutiny.
Minister's letter of 25 March 2010
11.6 The Minister apologises for not having been
able to respond sooner. Following publication of the Commission's
report, officials gathered detailed evidence of the UK's compliance
with every Article in the 2001 Framework Decision. This evidence
covered procedures in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland. It was then submitted to the Commission in December 2009.
11.7 The Commission has now responded to the
Government's submission of additional evidence. It has said that
although it will not be issuing a revised version of the report,
it is currently carrying out research in order to draft a new
instrument in support of victims, to be proposed in 2011. The
Commission's response concluded that the UK's submission of additional
evidence would be "very much valued as part of this process".
As a result, the Minister is confident that the UK's position
with regards to support for victims will be reflected "accurately
and in full" in the Commission's preparations for a new instrument.
He hopes that this response will reassure the Committee that its
concerns about the inaccuracies in the Commission's original report
have been acknowledged and acted upon.
Conclusion
11.8 We thank the Minister for his letter.
We are disappointed that the Commission's erroneous assessment
of the UK's implementation of this Framework Decision could not
be put right in a revised report, but we note the Government's
submission of evidence will be taken into account in the proposal
for a new Directive on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings,
which the Commission intends to launch next year.
11.9 We now clear the Commission's report
from scrutiny.
31 Full details of these are set out in paragraphs
6.14-6.21 of the Committees' Report (HC 19-xxiv (2008-09), chapter
6 (15 July 2009)). Back
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