A standardized approach for victims of serious crime throughout the European Union

Abstract

With the success of the internal market and free movement across the EU, as well as the expansion of Member States, criminal activity across borders - especially offences having a cross border nature - have increased. EU instruments addressing this issue have been rather disjointed, and more importantly, far too slow and lengthy to respond effectively to the nature of criminal activity within the EU. Historically, legal systems in the EU have developed autonomously, with Member States being particularly reluctant to relinquish sovereignty over criminal law measures. The introduction to the thesis, i.e. Chapter 1, seeks to outline the salient points of concern wherein one finds an analysis of the crucial aspects that the thesis is concerned with, such as an explanation of the terms ‘victim’ and ‘serious crime’ within the EU. This chapter finishes off with a concise explanation of what gives the EU competence to legislate in such matters. The aim of Chapter 2 is to briefly outline and analyse existing legislation concerning the subject on an EU level. Indeed, differences between legal models remain too stark, and this is precisely what is highlighted throughout the third Chapter. The fourth Chapter delves into victim support organisations that are gaining traction. The objective of the latter chapter is to identify not only the importance such entities have within society, but also to outline the lack of uniformity there exists between the respective organisations in EU Member States. The fifth concluding chapter seeks to determine the main challenges faced by Directive 2012/29 and the Maltese equivalent Act that the Maltese legislator has drafted and signed into law to transpose the same Directive. Lastly, this concluding chapter looks towards the current situation as it is and identifies possible solutions and approaches to address the problem that cross-border victims face. More importantly, the proposals made within the conclusion take into account the legal and administrative efforts involved. This is in point of fact the reason why the thesis tackles solely victims of serious crime as the individuals that should be given immediate priority. The most significant of all is the need to address national barriers as well as the need for Member States to raise their standards in this respect, ensuring victims, and more importantly victims of serious crime, benefit from a level playing field.