Since we are entering a general election period, it is timely to speak of a group that will be a focus for pledges and one-upmanship all round: victims of crime. Crime victims are high on the European Commission’s agenda, too. This is even more the case with the new justice commissioner, Viviane Reding, who is considered a populist – it was she, after all, who in her previous post forced through limits on roaming charges for mobile phone users, against the wishes of the telecoms industry.

This is what she said recently when outlining her future agenda: ‘As we work to ensure the rights of the suspected and the accused are fully enforced, we must equally look to the needs of those who fall victims of crime. … We must not forget that the right to a fair trial applies as much to the victim as to the defendant … I asked my justice department to carry out a thorough examination of the problems faced by victims, including the effectiveness of existing legislation and the implementation of that legislation. In early 2011, I will propose solutions, including new legislation, the primary goal of which will be to translate the law into reality for the millions of citizens who, every year, fall victim of crime.’

Lawyers do not often speak of crime victims. Much more of our work is taken up with suspects and defendants. We sometimes fear that populists put the rights of victims before the rights of suspects, as a ploy to win the ‘tough on crime’ vote. But to be fair to the commissioner, she talks of victims’ rights being given equal focus to suspects’ rights, and has been as good as her word. She is pursuing vigorously at the same time the question of suspects’ and defendants’ rights, and indeed the commission has always pursued suspects’ rights to the best of its ability (it is the member states which have been reluctant on this question).

The future e-justice portal, which the commission hopes to launch in the middle of this year, will give further evidence of the commission’s even-handedness on this point. It will be a central web point for EU citizens to find out about justice, not only at EU level, but also in other member states. There will be a huge amount of information available. The two areas in which the commission has asked for factsheets to be prepared are - victims’ rights and defendants’ rights. The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe is preparing the defendants’ rights factsheets through a network of criminal law experts provided by our member bars. At present, these experts are writing up the factsheets in simple language, to be translated eventually into all official EU languages. Although it is aimed at citizens, it will in future also give a simple guide to lawyers on the basic criminal law and procedure in all member states. There will be a similar guide for victims’ rights, which may also be useful to lawyers.

In addition, commissioner Reding, in her previous post in charge of telecoms, launched only last November an EU wide hotline for victims. The commission is rolling out single numbers which can be used throughout the EU for certain services. The most famous is 112, which can be rung in any member state for an emergency (the EU equivalent of the UK’s 999). But there are a series of 116 numbers for specific other emergencies, such as a child having gone missing. This is the new number specifically for victims of crime - 116 006 (maybe not the snappiest to remember). If you ring it, you will be informed of your rights and how to use them, be offered emotional support, and be referred to relevant organisations. There will also be information about local police and criminal justice proceedings, possibilities for compensation and insurance, and other sources of help.

The commissioner’s mention in the speech of the right to a fair trial applying as much to the victim as to the defendant sounds strange to our ears. Common law systems do not recognise victims procedurally in the same way as many civil law systems do, where a victim can become a partie civile and join a claim for compensation to the criminal justice procedure, and have a right to address the court (apart from being called as a witness). The UK has resisted harmonisation in this field.

As she said, the commission is currently consulting on new legislation, built on existing legislation, of which there are two main legs: the Council Framework Decision of 15 March 2001 on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings (2001/220/JHA) and the Council Directive of 29 April 2004 relating to compensation to crime victims (2004/80/EC). There is an interesting report about the first leg, giving much information on the various systems in Europe.

This is an area where the commission does excellent work, ensuring that wherever victims happen to be in the EU – and it could be you – a minimum standard will apply to their support.

Jonathan Goldsmith is the secretary general of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe, which represents around a million European lawyers through its member bars and law societies