In general, as a victim, from the first contact with the authorities or officials and during intervention by the assistance and support services provided by the public administrations, including prior to reporting the crime, you have the right to receive protection, information, support, assistance and care.
You can ask the authorities or officials you contact initially to refer you to the Crime Victim Support Offices (Oficinas de Asistencia a las Víctimas del delito), where you will be assisted free of charge and confidentially, even if you have not previously reported the crime.
You may also be accompanied by a person of your choice from the first contact with the authorities and officials.
Furthermore, as a victim, you have the right to understand and be understood in any action that has to be carried once the crime has been reported, including the information prior to lodging the report, with interpreting being provided in legally recognised sign languages, as well as means of support for oral communication in cases where this is needed.
All communication, both oral and written, will take place in clear, simple and accessible language and will take into account your personal characteristics and needs, especially if you have any sensory, intellectual or mental disability or if you are a minor.
The information to which you are entitled as a victim and which will be provided to you from the first contact with the authorities or officials and during the intervention of the assistance and support services mainly concerns:
If you need it, you can also receive information about the interpreting and translation services, and the communication aids and services available.
If you are not resident in Spain, you are entitled to receive information about the procedure for exercising your rights.
If you are a victim of a crime and you reside in Spain, you will be able to report criminal acts that were committed in other European Union countries to the Spanish authorities.
In the event the Spanish authorities decide not to proceed with the investigation owing to lack of jurisdiction, they will immediately forward the report to the competent authorities of the State where the acts were committed, and they will inform you of this as the complainant.
If you are a citizen of an EU Member State and ordinarily resident in Spain and the crime you are a victim of was committed in an EU Member State other than Spain (victim of a crime in cross-border situations), you can go to the Crime Victim Support Offices, which can provide you with information on the legal proceedings to follow in the country where the crime was committed and on the compensation to which you may be entitled. If it is a terrorist crime, you should contact the Ministry of the Interior’s Directorate-General for the Support of Victims of Terrorism (Dirección General de Apoyo a las Víctimas del Terrorismo del Ministerio del Interior).
If you are a citizen who is not resident in Spain, you have the right to an interpreter free of charge, if you do not speak Spanish or the respective regional language. The police can provide you with a form in your language for reporting the crime, and access to an interpreter by telephone or in person. The courts have an interpreter service, which will coordinate with the Crime Victim Support Offices. Furthermore, if you are not resident in Spain, you are entitled to receive information about the procedure for exercising your rights.
If you are the beneficiary of a protection order issued in a Member State, you can request a European protection order. Using a simplified and accelerated process, you will be granted protection through a new protection measure taken by the Member State to which you are travelling or moving.
At the time of reporting a crime, you are entitled to receive a duly certified copy of the report. You will also be entitled to free language assistance and a written translation of the copy of the report you file, if you do not understand or speak any of the official languages of the place where the crime is reported
You will also be entitled to receive information about the following:
Furthermore, you will be informed of the date, time and place of the trial, as well as the substance of the charges against the offender.
If you are a victim of a crime of gender-based violence, you will be notified of the decisions to imprison or subsequently release the offender, as well as the possible escape of the offender from custody, in addition to those approving personal precautionary measures or amending measures already agreed, where they are intended to ensure your safety, without your needing to ask for them, except in any cases where you express the wish not to receive these notifications.
You will also be able to access the assistance and support services from the Crime Victim Support Offices free of charge and confidentially. You can be referred to these Offices where necessary depending on the seriousness of the crime or when you so request.
Where the crimes in question have caused particularly serious damage, the public administrations and Crime Victim Support Offices may extend to your family members the right of access to the assistance and support services. To that end, family members are defined as people linked to you by marriage or similar relationship, and relatives up to the second degree (grandparents, siblings and grandchildren).
If you are a citizen who is not resident in Spain, you have the right to an interpreter free of charge, if you do not speak Spanish or the respective regional language. The police can provide you with a form in your language for reporting the crime, and access to an interpreter by telephone or in person. The courts have an interpreter service, which will coordinate with the Crime Victim Support Office.
The Crime Victim Support Offices will provide you with information about your right to free language assistance and to the written translation of the copy of the report if you do not understand or speak any of the official languages in the place where you report the crime.
In particular, you are entitled to:
This right will also apply if you have hearing or speech impairments;
You can request that the translation include a short summary of the grounds of the decision taken;
Assistance from an interpreter may be provided by means of video conference or any telecommunication medium, unless the judge or court, ex officio or at the request of one of the parties, agrees to have the interpreter physically present to safeguard your rights.
The written translation of documents may be exceptionally substituted by an oral summary of their content in a language you understand to ensure the fairness of the proceedings.
If you would like police actions to be interpreted or translated and this is not provided, you can appeal to the examining judge. The appeal is considered to have been lodged from the time at which you expressed your disagreement with being denied the interpreting or translation requested.
In general, as a victim, from the first contact with the authorities or officials and during intervention by the assistance and support services provided by the public administrations, including prior to reporting the crime, you have the right to receive protection, information, support, assistance and care.
You can ask the authorities or officials you contact initially to refer you to the Crime Victim Support Offices, where they will assist you free of charge and confidentially, even if you have not previously reported the crime.
You may also be accompanied by a person of your choice from the first contact with the authorities and officials.
Furthermore, you have the right to understand and be understood in any action that has to be carried out once the crime has been reported, including the information prior to lodging the report, with interpreting being provided in legally recognised sign languages, as well as means of support for oral communication in cases where this is needed.
All communication, both oral and written, will take place in clear, simple and accessible language and will take into account your personal characteristics and needs, especially if you have any sensory, intellectual or mental disability or if you are a minor.
If you are a victim of crime, you have the right to access, free of charge and confidentially, the assistance and support services provided by the public administrations, as well as those provided by the Crime Victim Support Offices.
Crime Victim Support Offices are a public multidisciplinary service provided free of charge to meet victims’ needs, set up by the Ministry of Justice.
There are Offices in all the autonomous communities, in nearly all provincial capitals, as well as in other cities.
The Crime Victim Support Offices will provide you with comprehensive, coordinated and specialist support as a victim of crime, meeting your specific legal, psychological and social needs.
If you are a victim of terrorism, you can contact the National High Court’s Terrorism Victim Information and Support Office (Oficina de Información y Asistencia a Víctimas del Terrorismo de la Audiencia Nacional), although you may contact the Crime Victim Support Office in your province if you wish. The Crime Victim Support Office will then coordinate with the National High Court’s Terrorism Victim Information and Support Office.
The right of access continues during the intervention of the assistance and support services and, where appropriate, the restorative justice services, throughout the entire criminal proceedings and for an appropriate period of time after they end, regardless of whether the offender’s identity is known and of the outcome of the proceedings, including the time prior to the crime being reported.
Where the crimes in question have caused particularly serious damage, the public administrations and Crime Victim Support Offices may extend to your family members the right of access to the assistance and support services. To that end, family members are defined as people linked to you by marriage or similar relationship, and relatives up to the second degree (grandparents, siblings and grandchildren).
If you have underage children or you are a minor who is subject to guardianship, custody by a female victim of gender-based violence or by persons who are victims of domestic violence, you will be entitled to the specific assistance and protection measures established by law.
In addition, if you are a victim of terrorist crimes or gender-based violence or you are a minor, you will also have the rights recognised by the specific legislation for each type of crime.
The State police officials and, where appropriate, the police of the autonomous community where the crime occurred, will carry out an initial individual assessment of your situation when you report the crime, to determine your protection needs and to identify you, if applicable, as a vulnerable victim. During this initial assessment, you will receive information on the possibility of going to a Crime Victim Support Office.
Any authority or official who comes into contact with you must refer you to the Crime Victim Support Offices where necessary, depending on the seriousness of the crime or in any cases where you so request.
Access to the assistance and support services provided by the public administrations, as well as those provided by the Crime Victim Support Offices, will in all cases be confidential.
The information you provide to police officials or any authority or official who assists you from the first moment may only be passed on to other assistance and support services, such as the Crime Victim Support Offices, with your prior and informed consent.
The victim support services may only supply the information they have received about you to third parties with your prior and informed consent.
With respect to the judicial sphere, the judges, courts, public prosecutors and other authorities and officials in charge of the criminal investigation, as well as any others that are in any way involved or take part in the proceedings, will take the necessary measures, in accordance with the law, to protect your privacy and that of your family members and, in particular, to prevent the dissemination of any information that may reveal your identity if you are an underage victim or a person with a disability in need of special protection.
Moreover, the judicial authority may prohibit the obtaining, disclosure or publication of images of you or your family members, especially if you are an underage victim or a person with a disability in need of special protection.
Every victim has a right of access to the assistance and support services from the Crime Victim Support Offices free of charge and on a confidential basis.
Access to the assistance and support services will not be conditional on reporting a crime beforehand.
The authorities and officials in charge of the investigation, prosecution and trial of the crimes will take the necessary measures established by law to safeguard the life of the victim and their family members, their mental and physical wellbeing, freedom, safety, sexual freedom and integrity, as well as to adequately protect their privacy and dignity, particularly when they are making statements or have to testify in court.
The public prosecutor will particularly ensure the fulfilment of this entitlement to protection in the case of underage victims, taking the appropriate measures in their best interest where necessary to prevent or reduce the damage that may arise for them from the conduct of the proceedings.
If you are an underage victim or victim with a disability (victims in need of special protection), there is the possibility of evidence being examined before the trial by experts and your interview with a specially trained team in a special room being recorded.
Your particular circumstances will be assessed to determine which protection measures must be taken.
The following are responsible for both assessing and deciding these kinds of measures:
Yes, because your particular circumstances will always be assessed first to determine which protection measures must be taken.
The State police officials and, where appropriate, the police of the autonomous community where the crime occurred, will carry out an initial individual assessment of your situation when you report the crime, to determine your protection needs and to identify you, if applicable, as a vulnerable victim. During this initial assessment, you will receive information on the possibility of going to a Crime Victim Support Office.
If you are assisted in a Crime Victim Support Office, this service will also carry out an individual assessment of your case. The information collected in the police assessment may be passed on to the Office if you consent to this.
The individual assessment will consider the needs you express as well as your wishes, and will fully respect your physical, mental and moral integrity.
It will especially take the following into consideration:
If you are underage or you have any disability and need special protection, your opinions and interests will also be taken into account, as well as your personal circumstances, and the principles of the best interest of the underage or disabled person in need of special protection will be respected in particular, as well as their right to information, non-discrimination, right to confidentiality, privacy and the right to be protected.
Yes, during the investigation of the crime, it will be the examining judge or judge dealing with violence against women or, if it is a crime of gender-based violence, the public prosecutor or the police officials involved in the initial phase of the investigations who will assess and determine the protection measures that may be appropriate for you.
If you are in danger, you will receive police protection.
Your evidence will be given via video conference for reasons of safety, public order, utility or to preserve your dignity.
If you are victim of certain specific crimes that lead to special protection measures being granted to their victims, such as gender-based violence, domestic violence, human trafficking for the purposes of sexual and labour exploitation, injury, crimes against freedom, torture, crimes against the individual, against sexual freedom, privacy, the right to self-image, the inviolability of the home, honour and socio-economic order, you have the right to one of the following bans being imposed on the aggressor if it is strictly necessary for your protection: ban on residing in or going to a place, neighbourhood, city or region, ban on approaching you or communicating with certain people.
The following measures may be taken during the investigation for your protection:
If you are summoned to testify and the judge sees you are at serious risk or your freedom, property or family is at risk, he/she can take the following action:
If you are victim of a crime of gender-based or domestic violence, you can get a ‘protection order’ that includes general precautionary measures against the aggressor (ban on residing or going to certain places, neighbourhoods, cities or regions, ban on approaching or communicating with certain people).
During the judicial proceedings, the judge or president of the court may order a private hearing (restricting the presence of audiovisual media in the trial sessions and prohibiting the recording of all or some of the hearings) to protect morality, public order and you as a victim and/or your family. They may also prohibit disclosure of the identity of the experts or any other people who take part in the trial.
As private prosecutor, you could request a private hearing.
During the proceedings, the following measures may be taken for your protection:
The measures to prevent visual contact with the alleged perpetrator and the asking of questions regarding your private life may also be taken during the investigation.
In the case of vulnerable victims, such as underage victims and victims with disabilities in need of special protection, in addition to the measures set out in the section ‘Will someone assess my case to see if I am at risk of further harm by the criminal justice system (during the investigation and trial)?’, the following measures will be applicable during the proceedings:
If you are an underage victim or victim with a disability (victims in need of special protection), there is the possibility of evidence being examined before the trial by experts and your interview with a specially trained team in a special room being recorded.
Furthermore, at the request of the public prosecutor, it may be possible to appoint a guardian ad litem if you are an especially vulnerable victim and in certain cases, such as where there is a conflict of interests with your legal representative, or with one of the parents, provided the other parent is unable to adequately perform their duties of representation and assistance of the victim.
If you are a minor, during the crime investigation phase you will be treated according to protocols that are specially created to protect you. Special precautions will be taken when you have to give evidence. The public prosecutor, who has the specific duty to protect minors, must always be present. Visual contact between you and the aggressor must be prevented using any technical means.
You will be interviewed by a specially trained team in a special room, which will not seem threatening to you, as there is the possibility of evidence being examined before the trial by experts and the interview being recorded.
You can give evidence just once, in the presence of the examining judge, the court clerk and all the parties to the proceedings, and not again during the trial.
During the judicial proceedings, if you are a minor giving evidence, visual contact between you and the accused will be prevented by any technical means possible.
Confrontation is also restricted.
In addition to the measures set out in the section ‘Will someone assess my case to see if I am at risk of further harm by the criminal justice system (during the investigation and trial)?’, the following measures will be applicable during the proceedings:
Furthermore, at the request of the public prosecutor, it may be possible to appoint a guardian ad litem if you are an especially vulnerable victim and in certain cases, such as where there is a conflict of interests with your legal representative, or with one of the parents, provided the other parent is unable to adequately perform their duties of representation and assistance for the victim.
If a family member has died because of a crime, you will be an indirect victim of the crime caused to your family member (direct victim) if you are in certain situations provided for by law (excluding in all cases the person responsible for the crime), as well as if you were the spouse of the direct victim and you were not legally separated or living apart; if you were the child of the direct victim or of the spouse not legally separated or living apart and you were living with them; if you were linked to the direct victim through a similar relationship and living with them, among other situations.
Remember that all victims are entitled to bring a criminal action and civil action according to the law and to appear before the authorities in charge of the investigation to provide them with the evidence and information considered relevant to clarify the facts.
As an indirect victim, you will have confidential access free of charge to the assistance and support services provided by the public administrations, as well as those provided by the Victim Support Offices, provided that it has been considered appropriate to extend this right to the family members of the direct victim given that the crimes have caused particularly serious damage. To that end, family members will be defined only as the people linked to the direct victim by marriage or similar relationship, and relatives up to the second degree (grandparents, siblings and grandchildren).
As an indirect victim, you may receive information about the assistance and support measures available, whether medical, psychological or material, and the procedure for obtaining them, as well as the compensation to which you may be entitled and, where appropriate, the procedure for claiming it.
The Crime Victim Support Offices will advise you about the economic entitlements related to the proceedings, in particular, regarding financial aid for damages caused by the crime and the procedure to claim it, and they will offer you the emotional support and therapeutic assistance you need, thus ensuring the appropriate psychological assistance to overcome the traumatic consequences of the crime.
In terms of the financial aid to which you are entitled as an indirect victim of crime, in Spain there is a system of public aid for the benefit of indirect victims of intentional and violent crimes committed in Spain resulting in death or serious damage to your mental health.
You must fulfil certain requirements to be considered an indirect victim for the purposes of financial aid (beneficiary):
You must claim the aid within one year of the date on which the crime occurred. In the event that the death occurred as a direct consequence of bodily injuries or damage to health, a new time-limit of equal duration will be triggered to claim the aid.
As a general rule, the granting of aid is conditional on a final judicial decision ending the criminal proceedings having been taken.
The aid cannot be combined with the compensation established by means of the judgment, although all or part of the aid will be paid where the person guilty of the crime has been declared partially insolvent, or with the compensation or aid from private insurance if the amount is higher than the amount set in the judgment, or with the social security subsidy that could be payable owing to the temporary disability of the victim.
The amount of aid may not in any case exceed the compensation set in the judgment.
As a victim, you are entitled to receive information about alternative dispute resolution with the use, where appropriate, of mediation and other restorative justice measures, and about the available restorative justice services, in the cases in which this is legally possible. The Crime Victim Support Offices will provide you with this information.
In addition, the Crime Victim Support Offices will be able to propose to the judicial body that criminal mediation be used where this is considered beneficial for you, and they will provide support to the restorative justice services and other out-of-court settlement procedures established by law.
You can access restorative justice services to obtain appropriate compensation for the material and non-material losses arising from the crime, where the following requirements are met:
The discussions held as part of the mediation procedure will be confidential and may not be disseminated without your consent and the offender’s consent.
The mediators and other professionals who take part in the mediation procedure will be subject to professional secrecy in relation to the events and statements they have had knowledge of in the performance of their duty.
Both you and the offender will be able to revoke your consent to participate in the mediation process at any time.
Mediation usually takes place in the case of less serious crimes.
In juvenile justice (ages 14 to 18), mediation is expressly laid down as a means to re-educate the minor. In this area, the mediation is carried out by the teams who support the juvenile prosecution service, although it may also be carried out by agencies from the autonomous communities and other entities such as certain specialist associations.
In the area of adult justice, mediation is included as part of restorative justice services, with various pilot programmes in place for several years now.
With regard to the safety of mediation for you, at all times you will have any physical protection measures required and any other measures required by the circumstances that can be granted by the judicial authority.
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