PROTECTION OF THE VICTIMS IN SERBIAN AND PORTUGUESE CRIMINAL LEGISLATION

Abstract

The obligation of every State is to protect life of every citizens and to insure everyone in accordance with its legislation rights and duties prescribed in European Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. When occurs significant endangerment or injury of corporal or mental integrity or property of larger scale, the State authorities are liable for criminal prosecution, conducting the effective and efficient process and for engagement of resources which can give professional support and adequate help to the victims. In this paper, the object of analysis is legal position of the victims before the competent judicial authority of the Republic of Serbia and the Portuguese Republic. The grounds for determining the status of an especially vulnerable victim, indicators of vulnerability and procedural consequences have been considered through comparative oversight of substantial and procedural provisions of criminal law which explicitly define the victim, as the passive subject of criminal offence. There have been described procedural and unprocedural measures of protection of the witness if there exist circumstances which indicate that by giving testimony or answering questions a witness would expose himself or persons close to him to a threats, danger to life, health, property of substantial size, with the point to signify main characteristics of this two legal systems, one that is applied in country in the process of integrating European Union and the second that is applied in member country of European Union. It is imperative to take actions by a competent authority in criminal procedure and that compulsory includes legal, informational and psychological help and support, in order to identify the truth and to get the perpetrators to justice, and in order to facilitate the participation of the victim and minimalize their traumatic experience.