LGBTI equality and human rights in Europe and Central Asia

Guidelines for transposition EU Crime Victims’ Directive and homophobic/transphobic hate crimes

By Professor Steve Peers, Human Rights Centre, University of Essex on behalf of ILGA-Europe.
December 2013

In 2012, the EU adopted a Directive on the position of crime victims in criminal proceedings (Directive 2012/29, OJ 2012 L315/57; the ‘2012 Directive’), replacing a ‘Framework Decision’ on the same subject, which had been adopted back in 2001 (OJ 2001 L 82/1). The Directive will apply to every EU Member State except Denmark (which remains bound by the Framework Decision); Member States are obliged to apply it by 16 November 2015 (see Article 27(1) of the Directive). All references in these guidelines concern this Directive, unless otherwise indicated. 

Table of Contents
1. Introduction and background 3
2. Principles for Interpretation of the Directive 5
3. Summary of the key definitions used in the Directive 10
4. Incident reporting, support services and awareness-raising 12
5. Specific protection needs and protection measures for victims 16
6. Training measures 18
7. Translation tables 19
8. Conclusions 21