Over 70 judicial practitioners coming from 28 countries gathered at Eurojust for the second symposium on victims’ rights. The event brought together practitioners and representatives from national and EU bodies over two days to exchange best practices and discuss the challenges associated to victims’ rights in cross-border cases. Focussed discussions on victims of trafficking in human beings, terrorism, migrant smuggling and online investment frauds allowed for the identification of specific challenges and best practices to overcome them.
Without a proper identification of victims, their rights to information, support and compensation are significantly undermined. Eurojust set up its Victims’ Rights Working Group to bring together the Agency’s expertise in this field. Eurojust is uniquely positioned to facilitate information exchange on victims and help prevent and solve conflicts of jurisdiction while finding concrete solutions for victims across the European Union, such as ensuring their right to compensation.
In this year’s edition, practitioners shared their experience in relation to securing the identification and the buy-in of key victims to build solid investigations. They also acknowledged that victims of cyber-enabled crimes are specifically hard to identify due to the complexity of such cases which typically involve multiple jurisdictions. Techniques to minimise the risk of secondary victimisation were also presented by support services along with testimonials of victims. Minimising the risk of crime under-reporting was emphasised by proactively supporting victims, facilitating their reporting and ease of access is pivotal, through for example designated portals.
Best practices to incentivise victims to come forward, report crimes and contribute to prosecutions and investigations were presented. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), and representatives of the European Commission contributed towards how the identification of victims can be fostered at an EU level, ensuring victims’ fundamental right to access justice. Finally, a joint report recently published by the EIGE and Eurojust on the European Protection Order was presented. The European Protection Order is a unique judicial cooperation instrument aimed at ensuring cross-border protection of victims in the EU.
The Victims’ Rights Symposium reinforces Eurojust’s commitment to enshrine victims’ rights in its operational and strategic work. Eurojust plans to complement this year’s edition with a Symposium dedicated to procedural rights of victims in 2026 and the right to compensation of victims in 2027.
Eurojust is an agency of the European Union