Description
The project addresses the need for victims and witnesses of crimes (domestic violence, corruption) to participate actively in criminal proceedings. The project aims at raising awareness and enabling people to communicate efficiently with the law protection and judicial authorities with the help of an e-catalogue of sample forms and documents. First, the e-catalogue will be developed. It will consist of sample documents needed by victims/witnesses of crimes together with explanatory notes, expert opinions, referral to the legal framework, information about the rights and obligations of the parties, the stages of proceedings and needed documents. Second, the e-catalogue will be uploaded and accessible via the Internet search engines and the applicant’s website. Finally, opportunities for online counselling and feedback will be considered. The project will benefit all victims/witnesses of crimes, whistle-blowers, the competent authorities and the local community.
Summary of project results
The project addressed the need for victims and witnesses of crimes (domestic violence, corruption) to participate actively in criminal proceedings. It is for the first time that templates were developed of documents needed for the participation of crime victims and witnesses in the criminal proceedings. The templates were classified based on the relevant classification criteria. It was also necessary to develop such documents because so far, prior to the creation of the e-catalogue, citizens had to resort to a lawyer to communicate with the competent authorities. The project aimed at enabling crime victims and witnesses to participate actively in the criminal proceedings by having effective communication with the decision-making authorities. The website developed under the project
www.blankizapostradali.com is complete, up-to-date and informative (77 document templates). The timely online posting of electronic templates and the expert’s comments enclosed helped citizens overcome their difficulties in alerting the competent institutions when their rights are at risk or violated. The round table held (an additional activity) helped discuss the identified legislative weaknesses and a report was prepared and submitted to the Minister of Justice about the legislative changes needed that are related to the rights of victims of various crimes in criminal proceedings, the development of the institution of citizens’ petition, ensuring equal access to justice, ensuring efficient safeguards for witnesses to fulfil their obligations and be provided with protection.
Summary of bilateral results