1.The purpose of this Directive is to ensure that victims of crime receive appropriate information, support and protection and are able to participate in criminal proceedings.
Member States shall ensure that victims are recognised and treated in a respectful, sensitive, tailored, professional and non-discriminatory manner, in all contacts with victim support or restorative justice services or a competent authority, operating within the context of criminal proceedings. The rights set out in this Directive shall apply to victims in a non-discriminatory manner, including with respect to their residence status.
2.Member States shall ensure that in the application of this Directive, where the victim is a child, the child's best interests shall be a primary consideration and shall be assessed on an individual basis. A child-sensitive approach, taking due account of the child's age, maturity, views, needs and concerns, shall prevail. The child and the holder of parental responsibility or other legal representative, if any, shall be informed of any measures or rights specifically focused on the child.
1.For the purposes of this Directive the following definitions shall apply:
(a)‘victim’ means:
a natural person who has suffered harm, including physical, mental or emotional harm or economic loss which was directly caused by a criminal offence;
family members of a person whose death was directly caused by a criminal offence and who have suffered harm as a result of that person's death;
(b)‘family members’ means the spouse, the person who is living with the victim in a committed intimate relationship, in a joint household and on a stable and continuous basis, the relatives in direct line, the siblings and the dependants of the victim;
(c)‘child’ means any person below 18 years of age;
(d)‘restorative justice’ means any process whereby the victim and the offender are enabled, if they freely consent, to participate actively in the resolution of matters arising from the criminal offence through the help of an impartial third party.
2.Member States may establish procedures:
(a)to limit the number of family members who may benefit from the rights set out in this Directive taking into account the individual circumstances of each case; and
(b)in relation to paragraph (1)(a)(ii), to determine which family members have priority in relation to the exercise of the rights set out in this Directive.