‘Victims in Focus. European and domestic perspectives’, conference held by ACJRD in Dublin on 2 October 2015
Just six weeks before the implementation deadline of the 2012 Victims Directive , the Irish ACJRD organised a conference looking at the state of affairs at the European and national level.
ACJRD (Association for Criminal Justice Research and Development) is a network in which experienced professionals from the criminal justice system and associated professions come together and discuss in an informal setting problems and methods of working. They work under Chatham rules, which means that participants cannot be quoted afterwards, so that it becomes possible to discuss and brainstorm freely. The main goal is to enhance dialogue across agencies, legal community and ngos.
The morning session was devoted to the European perspective, with contributions from the European Commission, the European Forum for Restorative Justice and Victim Support Europe. In the afternoon representatives from the Public Prosecutions Office and the Garda service presented the Irish state of affairs of implementation of the Directive. Moreover the draft Crime Bill which will implement the Victims Directive was presented. Workshops completed the Irish picture.
All the plenary contributions will be available in written form at the ACJRD website www.acjrd.ie early 2016.
Katrien Lauwaert
2 October 2015
