Representation of a victim

A victim in criminal proceedings should be represented by a professional attorney.

A victim is an individual to whom moral, physical or property damage has been caused by a criminal offence, as well as a legal entity to which property damage has been caused by a criminal offence (Art. 55 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine).

Types of damage

Moral damage means non-property losses resulting from moral or physical suffering and other negative effects caused to a person by the unlawful acts or omissions of others — in particular, humiliation of honour, dignity or business reputation, and mental suffering connected with injury to health or unlawful detention.

Physical damage means negative anatomical, physiological and mental changes in a person's condition resulting from the offence: bodily injuries, disorder of health, mental illness, physical suffering and pain.

Property (material) damage covers not only direct losses — the reduction of property through its loss, misappropriation, destruction or damage as a result of criminal acts — but also lost income, the costs of treatment and prosthetics for the victim and, in the event of death, the funeral costs.

Why a victim needs their own attorney

In present-day practice the rights of victims are violated ever more often. Law-enforcement bodies may allow a suspect to escape liability: to close the case, to release them from responsibility or from punishment. In such cases the moral and property interests of the victim remain outside anyone's attention.

In such cases a professional defender acting in the interests of the victim monitors the pre-trial investigation, participates in procedural actions, files motions, appeals against unlawful decisions and ensures that the case is examined in full.

Rights of a victim

• to be informed of their rights and obligations provided for by the Code
• to submit evidence to the investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge and court
• to file motions and challenges
• to have a representative and to terminate their powers at any moment
• to give explanations and testimony, or to refuse to give them
• to appeal against decisions, actions and inaction of the investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge and court
• to have their safety ensured in the cases provided for by law
• to claim compensation for the damage caused by the criminal offence and to bring a civil claim within the criminal proceedings
• to review the materials of the case that concern the damage caused
• to take part in the court hearing and in the examination of evidence

Obligations of a victim

• to appear when summoned by the investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge or court and, if unable to appear for valid reasons, to notify them in advance
• not to interfere with the establishment of the circumstances of the criminal offence
• not to disclose information that directly concerns the substance of the criminal proceedings and the procedural actions carried out, without the permission of the investigator or prosecutor

How the attorney's work is structured

The attorney begins by analysing the case materials and establishing the full extent of the damage caused — property, physical and moral. This assessment determines both the amount of the civil claim and the strategy for the case as a whole.

The attorney then takes control of the course of the pre-trial investigation: files motions for the necessary investigative actions, participates in questioning and confrontations, reviews expert opinions and appeals against decisions to close the proceedings or to release the suspect from liability.

At the trial stage the attorney supports the civil claim, participates in the examination of evidence, puts questions to the accused and to witnesses, and takes part in the debates — ensuring that the interests of the victim are not lost behind the interests of the prosecution.