Protection of safety of physical or psychological well-being of victims, witnesses and families

Republic of Albania

Albania - Criminal Procedure Code 1995 (2017) EN

CHAPTER VI VICTIM, ACCUSING VICTIM, CIVIL PLAINTIFF AND CIVIL RESPONDENT
Article 58 The rights of the victim of the criminal offence
1. The victim of a criminal offence has the right :
a) to require the prosecution of the perpetrator;
b) to seek medical care, psychological assistance, counselling and other services provided by the authorities, organizations or institutions responsible for assisting the victims of criminal offences.
c) to communicate in his or her own language and to be assisted by a translator and an interpreter of the language of signs or communication facilitator for people who are not able to speak and hear;
ç) to choose a defence lawyer and when it is the case to receive free legal aid pursuant to the legislation into force;
d) to seek at any time information about the status of the proceedings, and to be acquainted about the acts and evidence, without breaching the principle of investigatory secret;
dh) to require to receive the evidence and submit other requests to the proceeding authority;
e) to be informed about the arrest of the accused person and his release under the conditions stipulated in this Code;
ë) to be informed for the non-initiation of the proceeding, the dismissal of the case, the initiation and the completion of the adjudication;
f) to make an appeal in the court against the decision of the prosecutor for the non-initiation of the proceeding and the decision of the prosecutor or of the judge of the preliminary hearing to dismiss the charge or the case;
g) to ask a compensation for the damage and be accepted as a civil plaintiff in the criminal process;
h) to be excluded, in the cases provided for by the law, from the payment of every expense for receiving the acts and judicial fee for the submission of the lawsuit connected with the status of the victim of the criminal offence;
i) to be summoned in the preliminary hearing and in the first hearing;
j) to be heard by the court even when none of the parties requires him to be summoned as a witness;
k) exercise other rights provided for by this Code.
2. The proceeding authority shall immediately notify the victim on the rights referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and record the notification about it.
3. The victim who does not have legal capacity to act shall exercise rights through his/her legal representative or the legal guardian, unless this is not in the interest of the victim. When incompatibility is noticed between the interests of the victim and the ones of the legal representative or the guardian, the court appoints a special guardian in compliance with the provisions of the Family Code.
4. Heirs of the victim defined by this Code shall have the rights provided in paragraph one, letters: a), e), ë), f), gj) and k) of this article. If the heir of the victim is a child, he shall be represented by the legal guardian.

Article 58/a The rights of the minor victim
1. The minor victim of a criminal offence, besides the rights provided for in Article 58 and other provisions of this Code and the special legislation on the minors, shall have the right to:
a) be accompanied by one person of his/her trust;
b) confidentiality of his/her personal data;
c) ask through the representative that the hearing takes place without the presence of the public.
2. the proceeding authority shall treat the minor victim of the criminal offence taking into account her age, character, and other circumstances, in order to avoid the harmful effects on her future education and development.
3. If there is the possibility that the victim is a minor and the age is unknown, he or she will be presumed to be a minor.
4. The minor victim shall be questioned without delay by people specialized for this purpose. When possible and appropriate, the conversation shall be recorded with audio-visual recording tools, pursuant to the provisions of this Code. This recording may be used as evidence in the criminal proceeding and shall be evaluated along with other evidence pursuant to the criteria provided by article 361/a, paragraph 4 of this Code. When the minor victim is under 14 years of age, the conversation is held in premises adjusted for him.

Article 58/b The rights of the sexually abused victim and human trafficking victim
1. Besides the rights provided for in Article 58 and 58/a of this Code, the sexually abused victim and the human trafficking victim shall also be entitled to:
3. be heard without delay by a judicial police or prosecutor of the same gender;
a) refuse to answer questions regarding his/her private life obviously not related to the criminal offence;
b) request to be heard during the trial through audio-visual tools pursuant to the provisions of this Code.

Rome Statute

Article 87 Requests for cooperation: general provisions

4. In relation to any request for assistance presented under this Part, the Court may take such measures, including measures related to the protection of information, as may be necessary to ensure the safety or physical or psychological well-being of any victims, potential witnesses and their families. The Court may request that any information that is made available under this Part shall be provided and handled in a manner that protects the safety and physical or psychological well-being of any victims, potential witnesses and their families.