Perspectives on the Council of Europe's Approach to the Issue of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime

Abstract

The Council of Europe's goal of achieving greater unity between its members is pursued in particular through harmonization of member states' legislation and practice. Agreement among them on common policy usually takes form of conventions, namely European treaties, which, however, carry legally binding force only for states which have ratified them. Moreover, such agreement might be expressed in form of Recommendations which are addressed by Council's executive organ, Committee of Ministers, to governments of member states and contain guidelines for national legislation and administrative and judicial practice. In this context, European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) has sought since its inception more than thirty years ago to promote common policy on crime prevention and treatment of offenders. This Committee has thus drawn up an impressive series of which are complemented by a still larger number of recommendations on either practical application of these conventions or implementation in member states of specific crime policies. The large amount of legal instruments surely reflects difficulty of establishing and improving interstate cooperation which is required in penal matters because the fight against crime, which is becoming increasingly an international problem, calls for use of modern and ef-