Freedom, security and justice : assistance, compensation and access to justice for crime victims. Tampere, 1999

The committee adopted the report by Patsy SÖRENSEN (Greens/EFA, B) on the Commission communication on crime victims in the EU. The committee stressed that the Treaties contained relevant provisions which afforded the European Union instruments for strengthening protection of the victims of crime, and that initiatives should be drawn up based on those provisions. It was disturbed at the fact that the measures aimed at improved access to the courts and in particular those concerned with aid to crime victims were not due to come into effect until 2004. The report proposed a range of practical measures, such as ensuring that victims could be questioned in and obtain translations into their mother tongue, the obligation to register the questioning of minors on video and the setting up of a European network of funds for the benefit of crime victims. It called for special attention to be paid to training police and judicial officials with regard to sex offences, abuse and trafficking in persons, and for the establishment of a coordinated European system of victim services programmes, providing legal, psychological and physical protection services to victims of rape, domestic violence, stalking, genital mutilation and assault. The report also spoke of the need to promote ways of rehabilitating offenders so as to prevent them from reoffending and thereby causing further damage to society.�