Original scientific paper
First experiences of police officers in conducting individual assessment of victims of criminal offences
Elizabeta Ivičević Karas
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Republika Hrvatska
Zoran Burić
orcid.org/0000-0001-5353-8478
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Republika Hrvatska
Hrvoje Filipović
; Visoka policijska škola, Republika Hrvatska
Abstract
The paper deals with the new institute of individual assessment of victim, which was introduced into Croatian law by transposing the Directive establishing minimum standards on the rights, support, and protection of victims of crime. The paper analyses the content and purpose of the individual assessment of the victim, followed by the need for flexibility of procedure, special measures of victim protection, and the role of procedural organs and other entities in its implementation. Particular attention has been dedicated to the specific role of the police since police officers are usually the first to come into contact with victims of crime and are thus in a position to provide first protection and assistance. The paper analyses the results of the empirical research conducted on a sample of 103 crime reports for the criminal offence of domestic violence from Article 179 a of the Criminal Code, with the attached completed forms for individual assessment of the victim's protection needs. The research results of the first experiences of police officers in conducting an individual assessment of victims show that the institute is applied in practice, although some difficulties were identified, primarily related to the problem of designing protection measures as victims' rights, some of which belong to all victims, while some are guaranteed only to some categories of vulnerable victims. Moreover, in police practice, the measures taken by police officers by the provisions of the police legislation are not differentiated from the procedural protection measures prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Act. Finally, some police officers have recognized that precautionary measures lato sensu can serve to protect the victim, except the arrest, which is a measure taken by police and which should also be perceived as a reliable measure of protection, especially in cases of violent criminal offences.
Keywords
individual assessment of victim; victim; police; special protection measures; procedural protection measures; police protection measures.
Hrčak ID:
230314
URI
Publication date:
19.12.2019.
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