Completion of the ARVID project

We have successfully completed the implementation of the project “Advancing Access to Rights under Victims’ Directive for Persons with Disabilities”. The final conference of the project took place on 24 September 2021 from 10 am to 2 pm online. The conference had more than 120 participants (28 of them panelists), mostly from Croatia and Slovenia – the two countries where the project activities were implemented. The working language of the conference was English with translation into Croatian and Slovenian and Croatian and Slovenian sign language.

The aim of the conference was to discuss the recommendations of the project, based on the results of the empirical research carried out in the framework of the project, and to initiate the processes necessary for their implementation. The discussion took place in two thematic strands, i.e. two panels:

1. Inclusion of persons with disabilities in the victim support system

The theme involves, on the one hand, empowering people with disabilities to report crimes and offences committed against them, while at the same time strengthening their awareness of the rights they have when they become victims of crime or offences. On the other hand, it also means integrating associations providing support and assistance to people with disabilities with organisations providing support and assistance to victims of crime or offences.

2. Accommodating the criminal proceedings to the needs of persons with disabilities

This means not only removing existing physical barriers, but also barriers, where they exist, to accessible and effective communication and support. To ensure this, it is important to enable cooperation of associations providing support and assistance to people with disabilities with all stakeholders in the criminal justice system, in particular those carrying out individual assessments. It is also important to systematically train stakeholders in the criminal justice process about the needs of people with disabilities and appropriate communication.

The conference was moderated by Prof. Elizabeta Ivičević Karas, PhD, key expert on the project (Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb), who also spoke about the results of the project and the common recommendations and drew the conclusions of the conference. The moderator of Panel 1 was Katarina Vučko, National Expert for Slovenia, Peace Institute, Ljubljana; the moderator of Panel 2 was Zoran Burić, National Expert for Croatia, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb.

A compendium of all project results and materials was prepared for the final conference.