French Code of Criminal Procedure
In forceThe victims' assistance office set up in each judicial court is made up of representatives of one or more victims' assistance associations that have been granted general competence pursuant to article D. 1-12-1 and, where appropriate, court officials or agents.
The task of the victim support office is to inform victims and respond to any difficulties they may encounter throughout the criminal proceedings, particularly during any urgent proceedings such as the immediate appearance procedure.
At their request, it informs victims about the course of the criminal proceedings and helps them with their enquiries.
The victim support office may inform the victim of the progress of the proceedings concerning him or her, in particular in the light of the information of which it has become aware pursuant to the last paragraph of Article R. 15-33-66-9, indicating in particular, as the case may be:
-that his complaint is being examined by the public prosecutor;
-that his complaint is the subject of a judicial police investigation;
-that the public prosecutor is examining the action to be taken on the investigation;
-that the case is the subject of an investigation before such and such an investigating judge;
-that the complaint is the subject of an alternative prosecution procedure ;
-that the complaint has been the subject of a decision to close the case;
-that the case has been referred to the court for trial;
-the date of the hearing at which the case will be examined;
-the date on which the judgement taken under advisement will be handed down;
-the content of the judgement that has been handed down;
-that the judgement handed down has been the subject of an appeal by the public prosecutor or the accused.
He may generally be instructed to provide the victim with all information that the victim must be provided with pursuant to the legislative provisions of this code.
The victim support office works in conjunction with the bailiffs and local bar associations.
The victim support office also has the task of directing victims to the competent magistrates or services, in particular the sentence enforcement courts, for the application of the provisions of articles 712-16-1,712-16-2 et 721-2.
Victims are also referred, where appropriate, to the compensation scheme to which they may be entitled, such as the service d'aide au recouvrement des victimes d'infractions or the commission d'indemnisation des victimes d'infractions.
When the conviction is handed down in the presence of the civil party, the victim support office receives the latter after the hearing, assisted, where appropriate, by his or her lawyer, to inform him or her in particular of the practical arrangements enabling him or her to obtain payment of the damages awarded to him or her and, where appropriate, of the steps that need to be taken to refer the matter to the service d'aide au recouvrement des victimes d'infractions or the commission d'indemnisation des victimes d'infractions as well as the timeframe within which they must take place.
