Protection measures

Anonymity is one of the measures used to protect the victim. You shall have the right to ask for anonymity, however the investigator or prosecutor will be able to provide you with anonymity only under all of the following conditions:

• there is evidence of a real threat to your life, health, freedom or property, or to the life, health, freedom or property of your family members or close relatives;
• your testimony is significant in the criminal procedure (e.g., you can provide a detailed description of the suspect);
• you are involved in the process regarding a very serious, serious or less serious crime (e.g., armed robbery).

The important thing is that you, as a victim, are included in the decision making and application of anonymity is discussed with you. Application of anonymity is your right, not an obligation. 

If there is a chance that the suspect may commit new crimes or try to influence the victims, the court may impose precautionary measures against him. For example, the court may oblige the suspect to live separately from the victim, keep away from the victim at a certain distance and do not seek contact with him/her – do not write, call or try to contact through children, loved ones or relatives. 

If you are a victim of domestic violence, the following temporary protection measures may be applied to you:

• obliging the perpetrator to temporarily move out of his place of residence (if he is living with you);
• obliging the perpetrator to stay away from you, not communicate or make any contact with you.

You shall have the right to request a police officer to provide you with these protection measures. The police officer will apply to court within 24 hours and the court will decide whether to provide the protection measures. Such protection will be applied until a decision is made on the commencement of a pre-trial investigation. Once an investigation is commenced, these measures may be replaced with other obligations imposed by court (precautionary measures). 

Special protection measures are also applied during the pre-trial investigation and in court. They help protect the victims from serious emotional distress during the process. These measures are not applied to all of the victims, only to more vulnerable ones. These measures can be applied by the investigator, prosecutor or the court, after evaluating the needs of the victim. 

If there is verified data that the victim’s life, health or property is in danger due to cooperation with the law enforcement, the following protection measures against criminal impact may be applied upon the request of the victim:

• physical protection of the person and his property;
• temporary transfer of a person to a safe location;
• establishment of a special regime according to which data on the person is provided from the state and departmental registers, as well as the information systems;
• changing the person’s place of residence, or the place where he is working or studying;
• changing the person’s identity and biographical data;
• providing plastic surgery in order to change the person’s appearance;
• issuing a firearm or special measures to the person;
• financial support.

• If you are a victim of domestic violence, sexual abuse or a hate crime, you shall have the right to request to be questioned by a same sex officer. If you need an interpreter and you are questioned by a same sex officer, the interpreter should also be of the same sex as you.
• In order to avoid speaking about the same event to several different people, you may request that a repeated interrogation is carried out by the same officer.
• If direct participation in an interrogation would be psychologically very difficult to the victim or could lead to a psychological trauma, the interrogation can be carried out remotely, by using video and audio technologies. 
• If contact with the suspect could be very traumatic to you, or you would not be able to provide a detailed testimony in the presence of the suspect due to fear and feeling of insecurity, the interrogation may be carried out with a pre-trial investigation judge, without the participation of the suspect. 

If information about your private life could be published during the trial, the court can decide to hold a non-public hearing. Such a hearing must be held only when particularly sensitive cases are being examined, for example, regarding sexual crimes or when children are included in the case. A non-public hearing can also be held upon determining that a public hearing could cause very strong emotional distress to the victim.

If the victim is vulnerable, questions are asked through a judge presiding over the court hearing or the victim’s representative. The judge shall reject questions unrelated to the case, for example, very personal questions and questions that are unrelated to the circumstances of the crime. 

After determining that the victim is vulnerable and has special protection needs, the court may allow him (her) to not attend the court hearing. In this case, victim’s testimony provided during the pre-trial investigation is read or video/audio footage of the testimony is played in court.

If the victim is vulnerable, then he (she) may testify in a separate room, without the participation of the suspect and his advocate. In this case, a live video and audio broadcast of the interrogation is provided, while questions of the suspect and his advocate are asked through the judge.