CCPE-BU(2017)1
CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN PROSECUTORS (CCPE)
Questionnaire for the preparation of the CCPE Opinion No. 12 (2017):
“The rights of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons”
In your answers, please do not send extracts of your legislation but describe the situation in brief and concise manner, including briefly what is happening in practice.
Introduction
The Opinion deals, in general, with the rights of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons within the framework of criminal procedure, and, in particular, with the role of prosecutors in protecting these rights.
The first section deals with the definition of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons in the way in which it exists in different member states of the Council of Europe. The second section deals with their rights. The third section concerns the role of prosecutors in protecting these rights. This section, due to the mandate of the CCPE, is the key section of the Opinion.
The Bureau and the Secretariat of the CCPE would like to strongly thank you for your cooperation and contributions.
1. Definitions
1.1 Is there in your country a definition of a victim or a witness of crime? If yes, is it established in the law or other legal instruments? In Greece, there are definitions of both victims and witnesses of crime. At law 4254/2014 there is the definition of witness: Anybody who contributes substantially with the information which provides the authorities with, without being the same involved and without aiming to personal interest, in order to reveal and prosecute cases regarding bribery of political persons or public servants or judges or marketing intermediaries influence, can be characterized as witness of public interest, after act of the competent public prosecutor. As regards the definition of the victim, the definition can be found at the Presidential Decree 233/2003 and it states that victims of the crimes of trafficking in human beings are those people, Greek nationals or foreigners, that have suffered direct damage into their physical integrity or into their personal or sexual freedom or there is a serious danger regarding these goods or their life.
1.2 Are there in your country special regimes for victims of certain types of crimes, for example, domestic violence, sexual abuse, trafficking in human beings? If yes, can you list them? There is in Greece a special regime for the protection of victims of domestic violence, of sexual abuse and of trafficking in human beings (THB): 1. The victims of domestic violence are entitled of moral support and of the necessary material help from public or private legal persons that are functioning specially for those purposes under the surveillance of the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity and of social services of the municipalities. The victims that are asking for the taking of provisional measures, due to the situation caused by the act of the domestic violence, are provided with the benefit of legal aid if they cannot pay, even temporarily, the necessary judicial expenses. 2. The victims of THB are being protected from deportation, in case they are foreigners entered illegally in the country, care is taken for their security and living, medical assistance, psychological support, interpretation and legal aid is given. Special attention is given to the unaccompanied minors to whom the Prosecutor after specific request grants residency permit to the victim, that ensures access to work and to programs of professional training. 3. The victims of sexual abuse are being also protected. Particularly special care is provided for the minor victims of sexual abuse. Thus, the minor victim is examined by medical specialists to determine if he is in need for medical treatment, the judicial authorities can order the deportation of the perpetrator from the environment of the minor victim, the provisional residence of the minor in a protected environment and the prohibition of the communication between the victim and the perpetrator. Moreover, it is foreseen the presence of a child psychologist during the examination of the minor victim as a witness and the taking of the testimony of the minor audio visually and then the minor is not further examined at the court. There is also the possibility the lifting of secrecy of the telecommunications for the crimes of THB and sexual abuse of minors.
1.3 Is there in your country a definition of vulnerable persons, either in general sense, or particularly within the framework of criminal procedure? If yes, is it established in the law or other legal instruments? There is a definition of vulnerable persons/teams established in the Law 3907/2011. According to article 17 of the above Law, as vulnerable persons can be considered the unaccompanied minors, the persons who are handicapped or suffer from incurable disease, the elders, the women in pregnancy or confinement, the single parent families with underaged children, the victims of torture, rape or other serious form of psychological, bodily or sexual violence or exploitation and the victims from trafficking in human beings.
2. The rights of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons
2.1 Are there in your country specific rights of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons within the framework of criminal procedure, in addition to human rights in general? Yes, in Greece there is a specific and fully detailed and protective regime of rights for the victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons. Please refer above at the response under question 1.2.
2.2 If yes, are they established in the law or other legal instruments? These rights are established in the law.
2.3 Please enumerate briefly these specific rights (e.g. the rights to protection, to be treated fairly and with dignity, to be notified, to be present and to be heard at court proceedings, to seek restitution, to the respect of privacy, to make a complaint about infringement or denial of their rights). These rights can be found above at the response under question 1.2. Furthermore, the victims of THB are protected, in case they are substantial witnesses in penal trials, after a request to the Prosecutor. Also for the acts of formation and participation in a criminal organization, measures can be taken to ensure the effective protection from possible revenge or intimidation of the substantial witnesses. These measures are mainly: custody of the witnesses by the appropriate police personnel, testimony with the use of audio visual means, the anonymization of the witnesses with the non-recording at the testimonies of the name, place of birth, residence, work, profession and age, the alteration of the identity of the witnesses, the relocation of the witnesses to other countries and the transposition of the witnesses who are public servants to other public services for indefinite time. These protection measures are being taken with the consensus of the witnesses, they do not restrict their personal freedom beyond the necessary point and are being terminated in case the witness ask for that in written or if he doesn’t cooperate for their accomplishment.
2.4 How are victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons informed of their rights? Are there any formal arrangements or informal mechanisms, free access to relevant information and databases etc.? The law enforcement authorities and the judicial authorities (prosecutors, investigative judges) inform the above persons of their rights. Non-the less, several NGOs can also play an informative role on this.
2.5 What kind of penalties and sanctions are established for violation of these rights? In case there is a breach of these rights, there is the possibility of a criminal/administrative procedure to be started against the perpetrators. Criminal sanctions (imprisonment) or administrative (fines etc) can be imposed.
2.6 Are there in your country specific rights of vulnerable persons due to their age (children, elderly people) or disability (physical or mental), either as victims or as witnesses? In Greece, there are specific rights for these persons. Please see above at the response under question 1.3.
2.7 When a decision in criminal matters is likely to affect the rights or the situation of a vulnerable person, is it brought to the attention of other bodies dealing with the rights of that person (e.g. a measure prohibiting contact with his wife for a husband in the event of domestic violence brought to the attention of the court responsible for ruling on the custody of children)? It is up to the litigants to bring that to the civil court.
2.8 Can such vulnerable persons bear testimony alone or only following authorisation by their legal representatives, and in this latter case, in what conditions? They can bear testimony alone.
2.9 Is the refusal to bear testimony admissible, for instance as regards children or mentally disabled persons? In what conditions? The general rule is that nobody is forced to bear testimony. In any case, the witness can exercise the right of silence and not to incriminate himself.
2.10 Who proceeds to the evaluation of vulnerable persons and how the risk is assessed? Can the vulnerable person play a role in assessing such a risk? Which protective measures may be adopted and by whom? The public servants in charge of the reception of the vulnerable persons evaluate them and assess the risk.
2.11 Are there, in your country, any special procedures that allow testimony to be filmed, recorded and/or given from behind a screen? If so, in what circumstances can this occur? Yes, there is such a possibility. Please refer above to the response given at question 2.3.
2.12 How is the prevention of repeated victimisation ensured? By impose of effective and proportionate penalties to the perpetrators and by social work at the level of prevention at the society.
2.13 Are the rights of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons foreseen only for nationals or also for foreigners? Under which circumstances? The rights of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons in Greece are foreseen without prejudice to Greek nationals or foreigners.
3. Role of prosecutors in protecting the rights of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons
3.1 How are the rights of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons within the framework of criminal procedure enforced and guaranteed? What is the role of prosecutors in this matter? The rights of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons are being ensured and enforced by the Law Enforcement Authorities and the Prosecution Offices of the Greek Republic. Furthermore, the general framework of the competency of the Prosecution Office in Greece is the following: The Public Prosecutor guarantee the enforcement of the relevant laws and has the competency to prosecute any deviation from the law, due to the principle of legality. The Public Prosecutor has the competency to supervise and control the police authorities about the prevention and prosecution of crimes. The Prosecution Office is a judicial authority independent of the courts and the government. It acts as a single authority and its mission is to ensure the observance of the legality, the protection of the citizen and the preservation of the rule of law. The Prosecutor has the competency to address orders, general directives and instructions to the law enforcement authorities and generally to all the public sector regarding the exercise of their duties. Moreover, has the power to recommend to everybody who are in dispute and brawl to refrain from acting illegally and to purse on the peaceful settlement of their dispute. In this context, the Prosecutor ensures that the relevant laws are being enforced and the victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons receive the protection rendered by the law and all their rights are fully respected and applied. He can also address general or specific directives to the authorities involved in the protection of the above persons and supervises the execution of the protective measures and deals with the possible complaints and discrepancies.
3.2 Is this role of prosecutors established in the law or other legal instruments? Is this role established in the rules of ethics and professional conduct of prosecutors? This role of the Prosecutor, as described above, is foreseen at Law 1756/1988 and at the specific laws that regulate each right or obligation regarding the above persons. Besides, the Greek Judiciary enjoys a profound system of ethics and of professional conduct that ensures the safeguarding of the rights of the victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons.
3.3 How is this role fulfilled in practice? How do prosecutors cooperate with other organs of state in fulfilling this role, and do prosecutors have supervisory or monitoring functions? In practise, the prosecutor is fully cooperating with the other functions of the state when exercising his duties and has a fully supervising and monitoring role on the application of the legislation.
3.4 Can victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons apply directly to prosecutors for protection of their rights? All the above persons (victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons) have direct access themselves or through their legal assistance to the prosecutors and can apply directly to them for the safeguarding of their rights asking for assistance.
3.5 Can prosecutors, at their own initiative, start legal action for protection of the rights of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons? Prosecutors can also initiate and start legal action (order preliminary investigation or prosecute directly) any deviation from the application of the rights of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons.
3.6 Concerning assistance to victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons, do the prosecutors interact with other state bodies, private entities or NGOs? The Greek Police in order to fulfil its role on protecting the victims of THB and the protection of witnesses in cases of organised crime has to cooperate with the judicial authorities, mainly the Prosecution Offices and various other players on the field as NGOs. There is also in 24-hour basis a telephone line (197) that provides consultative and psychological support and information to the above categories of people. The Greek Police acting under the supervision of the local Prosecutor is moving the operations of direct social intervention into crisis situations that are faced by persons, families and population groups, in order to anticipate and prevent them. It also refers to the services of EKKA (National Center for Social Solidarity of the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity) and to other social bodies and services for further assistance (NGOs, International Organization for Migration etc).
3.7 Do the prosecutors benefit from specific training on the protection of the rights of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons? Does such training also involve prosecutorial staff and law enforcement agencies? Do the prosecutors play a role in carrying out such training? The National School of Judges and Prosecutors is carrying out very often educational and training activities for the protection of victims, witnesses and vulnerable persons. The Prosecutors are playing a great role at the training, as they make numerous presentations and interventions during these seminars and training activities. The Law Enforcement Authorities are also trained regularly in such issues.
3.8 Any other relevant point you wish to raise.