COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2004/80/EC

of 29 April 2004

relating to compensation to crime victims

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 308 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee(3),

Whereas:

(1) One of the objectives of the European Community is to abolish, as between Member States, obstacles to the free movement of persons and services.

(2) The Court of Justice held in the Cowan(4) Case that, when Community law guarantees to a natural person the freedom to go to another Member State, the protection of that person from harm in the Member State in question, on the same basis as that of nationals and persons residing there, is a corollary of that freedom of movement. Measures to facilitate compensation to victims of crimes should form part of the realisation of this objective.

(3) At its meeting in Tampere on 15 and 16 October 1999, the European Council called for the drawing-up of minimum standards on the protection of the victims of crime, in particular on crime victims' access to justice and their rights to compensation for damages, including legal costs.

(4) The Brussels European Council, meeting on 25 and 26 March 2004, in the Declaration on Combating Terrorism, called for the adoption of this Directive before 1 May 2004.

(5) On 15 March 2001 the Council adopted Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings.(5) This Decision, based on Title VI of the Treaty on the European Union, allows crime victims to claim compensation from the offender in the course of criminal proceedings.

(6) Crime victims in the European Union should be entitled to fair and appropriate compensation for the injuries they have suffered, regardless of where in the European Community the crime was committed

(7) This Directive sets up a system of cooperation to facilitate access to compensation to victims of crimes in cross-border situations, which should operate on the basis of Member States' schemes on compensation to victims of violent intentional crime, committed in their respective territories. Therefore, a compensation mechanism should be in place in all Member States.

(8) Most Member States have already established such compensation schemes, some of them in fulfilment of their obligations under the European Convention of 24 November 1983 on the compensation of victims of violent crimes.

(9) Since the measures contained in this Directive are necessary in order to attain objectives of the Community and the Treaty provides for no powers other than those in Article 308 thereof for the adoption of this Directive, that Article should be applied.

(10) Crime victims will often not be able to obtain compensation from the offender, since the offender may lack the necessary means to satisfy a judgment on damages or because the offender cannot be identified or prosecuted.

(11) A system of cooperation between the authorities of the Member States should be introduced to facilitate access to compensation in cases where the crime was committed in a Member State other than that of the victim's residence.

(12) This system should ensure that crime victims could always turn to an authority in their Member State of residence and should ease any practical and linguistic difficulties that occur in a cross-border situation.

(13) The system should include the provisions necessary for allowing the crime victim to find the information needed to make the application and for allowing for efficient cooperation between the authorities involved.