The video lectures were produced as part of the online training course “Implementing EU Victims’ Directive: Legal and Practical Novelties”. The full course together with self-assessment tests and supplementary reading materials is available on the online learning platform www.be-ribu.lt for registered participants.
Intro
Every year more than 40 thousand people in Lithuania become victims of various crimes. With a purpose to improve the protection of victims’ rights EU-wide, the EU Victims Directive was adopted back in 2012. What legal and practical novelties has the Directive brought to Lithuanian victim protection and support system? The purpose of this course is to introduce the practitioners to the relevant changes as well as improve their understanding of basic victims needs and rights in the criminal proceedings.
Lesson 1. The right to be accompanied by a person of their choice
During this lesson, we will familiarize ourselves with the right of a victim to be accompanied in the criminal proceedings by a person of their choice. This right is one of the novelties brought by the EU Victims’ Directive. After listening to the lesson, you will learn what is the purpose of this particular right, what is the procedural status of the accompanying person, who can be accompanying person and what are the legal limitations of exercising this right.
Lesson 2. Secondary victimisation
During this lesson, we will familiarize ourselves with the concept of secondary victimisation. Although the concept is not explicitly regulated by the national law, the protection of victims from secondary victimisation is one of the core aims of the EU Victims’ Directive. After listening to the lesson, you will learn what are the risk factors of secondary victimisation, what is the purpose of special protection needs assessment and what measures are available to protect victims in the criminal proceedings.
Lesson 3. Right to information
During this lesson, we will familiarize ourselves with the right of victim to information. After the transposition of the EU Victims’ Directive, the victims have acquired the right to information from the very first contact with relevant authorities. After listening to the lesson, you will learn how this right should be ensured in practice to enable the victims to use other rights contained in the Directive.
Lesson 4. Vulnerable victims
During this lesson, we will familiarise ourselves with the concept of vulnerable victims. The Directive places a strong focus on victims who are vulnerable. After listening the lesson, you will learn how to recognise vulnerable victims, what criteria are used to assess vulnerability, and how to treat vulnerable victims in a sensitive and professional manner.
Lesson 5. Interviewing especially vulnerable victims
During this lesson, we will familiarise ourselves with the basic principles on how to interview victims who can be considered especially vulnerable. After listening to this lesson, you will learn how to interview children victims of crime, victims of domestic violence, victims of sexual crimes and victims with disabilities.
Concluding the course
Thank you for listening to this course. We hope that the course “Implementing EU Victims’ Directive: Legal and Practical Novelties” has been useful.
For additional information on the EU Victims’ Directive please see the Guide on EU Victims’ Directive (in Lithuanian).
The course has been created as part of the project “Developing an EU Training Module for the Victims’ Directive”. Similar online training on the EU Victims’ Directive was conducted in Ireland. Please see the links below for the Irish training videos.
- Levent Altan, Executive Director of Victims Support Europe
- Liam T. Lowney, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance
- Judith Thompson, Commissioner for Victims and Survivors in Northern Ireland
- Ellen O’Neill Stephens and Celeste Walsen, Court House Dogs Foundation, USA
- Alyna Smith, Advocacy Officer – Health, Legal Strategies and Women, Platform for International Co-operation for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)
The online training course has been produced with the financial support of the Criminal Justice Programme (2014-2020) of the European Union. The contents of this course are the sole responsibility of its authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission.
