Children in the Union - Rights and Empowerment: A conference of the Swedish Presidency of the EU on child victims in the criminal justice procedure

Summary: Held under the Swedish presidency of the European Union, this conference will examine the difficulties faced by child victims in navigating the criminal justice system and encourage the search for child-friendly solutions.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CONFERENCE IS BY INVITATION ONLY AND NOT OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

Protection of crime victims is recognised as a central  concern in the European Union. The Council Framework Decision of 15 March 2001 on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings provides for minimum rights of crime victims. The European Commission has proclaimed that in an area of freedom, security and justice, allowance must be made for the special needs of vulnerable people. Children are vulnerable and require special protection. But the criminal justice system is not adapted to children. This means that child victims and witnesses do not have the same access to
justice as adults and that they often suffer hardship in the criminal justice procedure. This in turn may lead to secondary victimisation.

Investigating crimes against children, in particular violent and sexual crimes, is a difficult task with particular problems. For this reason, it is imperative that legislation and policies are
designed to secure the legal safety of child victims. Procedures must be developed to empower children to provide evidence that meet the requirements of the judicial system. In view of this, international co-operation is needed and measures need to be identified which can bring added value to these matters at the level of the EU.

Children in the Union - Rights and Empowerment (CURE) is a project which addresses the specific needs of child victims. The overarching objective of the project is to raise awareness of the problems of the child victim in the criminal justice system and the measures taken in the EU Member States aimed at the child victim.                    

The Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority in Sweden and its nine partners have organized this to gather ministry officials, policy-makers, professionals in the legal system and
child rights experts in the Member States. 

The goals of the conference mirror the twofold approach of the CURE-project. These are to gain an understanding of the legal position of the child victim in the criminal justice procedure and to present best practices which may facilitate the position of child victims.

At the conference the situation in the Member States will be discussed with a view to come up with conclusions on how to avoid secondary victimisation of child victims. The outcome of the discussions will also serve as a basis for future recommendations directed to the European Commission. 

More information is available on the newly launched CURE website; please check back for updates!