In 2022, Eurojust helped deliver justice to more than 300 000 victims of all forms of serious, cross-border crime.

The Agency continued to anchor the victims’ rights dimension in all its operational casework. Through its dedicated Working Group consisting of representatives from all Eurojust crime-based Working Groups, the Agency contributes to ensuring an adequate level of victims’ rights protection in cross-border criminal proceedings. The Working Group is responsible for compiling, monitoring and analysing victim-related issues reported by practitioners working on Eurojust cases.

Eurojust aims to minimise the risks associated with the cross-border dimension of cases, by ensuring timely and efficient coordination between the various countries and actors involved to preserve victims’ rights. The Agency is uniquely positioned to facilitate information exchange on victims to identify, rescue and protect them. Moreover, it is able to help prevent and solve conflicts of jurisdiction, and find concrete solutions for victims across the European Union, such as the right to compensation.

During 2022, the Agency continued to participate to the EU Victims’ Rights Platform, and to exchange best practices and foster cooperation with the European Commission Coordinator for Victims’ Rights and the European Network on Victims’ Rights. In particular, the Agency contributed to the EU Victims’ Rights Platform’s ad-hoc meeting in July 2022, dedicated to understanding the needs of victims of the war in Ukraine and how best respond to them.

At the policy level, Eurojust was invited to suggest amendments to the Victims’ Rights Directive. The Agency underlined that cross-border investigations exacerbate the risk of infringement to victims’ procedural rights, and mainly, but not exclusively, the risk of secondary victimisation. Eurojust calls on national authorities to refer cases involving victims to the Agency early on, in order to minimise the cross-border risks often related to such cases.