How can the under-age and more particularly younger children who are victims of crimes be protected during penal proceedings? The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, Juliane Kokott, ruled last week on the possibility of courts to listen to a five-year-old child during the preliminary hearings, prior in any case to the actual trial in court, in the case of an accusation of violence (not of sexual type, since in the case of sexual offences the witness of presumed juvenile victims is already provided) suffered in kindergarten, According to the Court whose sentence is expected shortly children must be considered “particularly vulnerable if victims of an offence”, thus making the adoption of appropriate measures for their protection necessary. Nonetheless says the ruling “it cannot be excluded that a preliminary hearing represents an obligatory treatment in view of the situation of a particularly vulnerable victim”. It is therefore a question of “evaluating the specific case and taking into due consideration the interests of witnesses, the rights of defence of the accused and, if necessary, the interest in the determination of the sentence”. For further information, consult the website www.curia.eu.int
