- I was a victim of a criminal offence: consequences and reactions
- The rights of victims of a criminal offence
- Right to be treated with respect and dignity
- Right to privacy
- Right to information about rights from the first contact with the competent authority
- Right to be heard
- Right to interpretation and translation
- Right to be accompanied by a victim support association
- Right to be accompanied by a legal representative and an adult of your choice
- Right to declare a third party’s address as a home address (with their consent)
- Right to return of property
- Right to compensation
- Right to legal aid
- Right to an individualised assessment
- Right to specific protection measures
- Social protection rights
- Right to an alternative to criminal proceedings: mediation
- Right to benefit from restorative justice measures
- Right to information on appeals and remedies
- Criminal proceedings
- Who is who in criminal proceedings
Victim
If you have been the victim of a criminal offence (voluntary manslaughter, rape, act of terrorism, etc.), a misdemeanour (theft, fraud, violence, harassment, etc.) or a minor offence (disturbance at night, damage, minor violence, etc.), the law allows you to obtain compensation for the harm you have suffered and to receive support from a victim support association.
In French law, a victim is a person who has suffered, individually or collectively, physical, psychological, moral, or material harm as a result of an offence or whose fundamental and legally protected rights have been seriously affected.
A victim does not only mean the person who directly suffered the crime. There may also be indirect victims: these are people who suffer harm (moral or material) as a result of the damage caused to the direct victim, to whom they are related.
Someone who thinks they are a victim can file a complaint, either at a police station or gendarmerie, or by writing to the Public Prosecutor. If the complaint leads to criminal proceedings, the offender will be brought before the judge and a trial may take place.
The victim is entitled to compensation. From the moment someone commits an offence and there is damage to others, the person who has broken the law must repair the damage.
In a criminal case, the victim can register as a civil party and claim compensation in the form of damages.
By registering as a civil party, a victim can have an active role in the criminal proceedings (which confronts the Public Prosecutor against the person who committed the offence), since they also become a party to the proceedings and will have access to the file.