Published on December 1, 2015
Comments on the bill amending Act on victims of crime
The Defender disagreed with the planned change that would extend the deadline for the provision of financial assistance to an indefinite period and she stressed this aspect to the submitter within the commentary procedure.
The Ministry of Justice proposes to amend the Victims of Crime Act. The Ministry wants to extend the 3-month deadline for resolving the applications for financial assistance filed by victims of crime and the survivors of the victims. However, the purpose of providing financial assistance is to alleviate the negative and traumatic consequences of crime on the victims. In order for the assistance to be effective, it must also be timely.
The Ministry wants to extend the 3-month deadline for resolving applications by a period necessary for “obtaining underlying documents for the decision from the criminal file.” However, the defender consider the 3-month period sufficient. Even if the Ministry faces problems with timely obtaining of all the necessary documents, it cannot pass its difficulties onto the victims of crime. On the contrary, it should help these victims to alleviate their difficult situation. The Defender must consider unacceptable a state where the problems and difficulties faced by the victims of crime or their survivors were aggravated by postponing the time when they would receive financial compensation.
The Ministry of Justice finally accepted the Defender’s comments in the course of the commentary procedure.