Protection of Victims of Crimes in the Republic of Slovenia

Abstract

The author discusses the rights of victims of crime set out in Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 and in the laws of the Republic of Slovenia. The author notes that victims of crime have long been rather neglected participants in the criminal procedure. The main focus of attention was on the accused and his or her rights. In recent times, there has been growing awareness that victims and perpetrators of crime are equally important. Therefore, the European Parliament and the European Council issued a Directive with a view to improving the situation of victims of crime in all EU Member States. This Directive transposed a number of new rights of victims of crime into the laws of the Republic of Slovenia. Even though the author doubts that the rights of victims of crime transposed into Slovenia`s laws by Directive 2012/29/EU will significantly improve the treatment of victims in criminal proceedings, he rates them as positive as they stir up awareness that, in addition to the accused, criminal proceedings involve victims of crime whose rights and interests need to be protected.