New EU rules to help victims of cross-border crimes

From 1 July 2005, victims of crime in the European Union should be entitled to a fair and appropriate compensation for injuries suffered, regardless of where in the EU a crime has been committed. Most member states have already established such compensation schemes, fulfilling obligations under the 1983 European Convention on compensation for victims of violent crimes, but now they must ensure that national rules provide for a compensation scheme for victims of violent international crimes.

Therefore, compensation for victims of crime will now be available in national as well as in cross-border situations, ie regardless where the victim lives and regardless in which member state the crime was committed. The definitions of what compensation should be paid to each victim is at member states’ discretion, provided that it is fair and appropriate. Member state authorities will provide help to their nationalities with formalities and submission of applications and in turn will transmit applications directly to their counterpart authorities in the member state where the crime was committed who will be responsible for assessing the application and paying out compensation.

A manual containing information provided by member states will be published by the European Commission on-line and at http://www.europa.eu.int