Publication date:
On Friday 22 January the Attorney General hosted a colloquium on the Victims Directive (Directive [2012/29/EU] of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime) and its challenges and prospects for common law criminal procedure.
The Attorney General’s colloquium brought together a varied and focused group for reflection on the themes and content of this Directive. The group heard from the Attorney General and Sara Chrzanowska from the European Commission’s Procedural Criminal Law Unit Victims Team.
The Attorney General, speaking after the colloquium, said:
“This was a valuable exchange which drew attention to what the Directive has done already and pointed to the potential that this Directive has for effecting significant change in our criminal justice system. There is no doubt that this Directive is now being attentively studied by policy-makers, lawyers and the voluntary sector.”
In his talk the Attorney General focused on how the directive could have an impact on further victim participation in the criminal justice system. Sara Chrzanowska explored the content and transposition of the Directive as well as future challenges and expectations.