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Ineffectiveness of the right to compensation for victims of sexual violence. A comparison between five EU Member States

Thu, September 12, 5:30 to 6:45pm, Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, Floor: Ground floor, Amphitheater 4 „Vintilă Dongoroz”

Abstract

One way to ensure justice for victims of violence is to provide financial compensation. This research investigated legal policies on state and offender compensation in five EU countries – Spain, Italy, Greece, Latvia and the Netherlands – to gain insight into the extent to which victims of sexual violence are being compensated fairly and appropriately. Policy data was collected via the EU justice portal and verified by local experts, and empirical data on law in practice was sought. The analysis consisted of comparing who can apply, what is needed to apply, and what is compensated. Major differences were found between countries. For example, the timeframe to apply for state compensation ranged between three months and ten years, the numbers of applicants ranged from 10 to 1210, and decision times ranged between two months to ‘without delay’. And while, for example, the average offender compensation awarded in Spain was twice as high as in the Netherlands (€ 13,728 versus € 6,451), the likelihood of victims receiving the compensation in these two countries was 14% and 100%, respectively, due to lack of enforcement. Because of the substantial variation between countries, and with reference to the European Court of Justice’s 2020 judgment, it was concluded that some of the EU countries examined do currently not comply with the requirement to provide fair and appropriate compensation. It is recommended that accessibility should be improved and that an advance payment scheme should be adopted so that victims actually receive compensation they are awarded. More research is needed.

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