The Executive has created the administrative units of various crime victim assistance offices, which offer free information, and psychological and social assistance services.

Assistance and support for victims of crime

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Poster of the Offices of Assistance to Victims of CrimeOffices of Assistance to Victims of Crime.
The Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts has approved the ministerial order creating the administrative units of the Office of Assistance to Victims of Crime (OAVD) of the Audiencia Nacional (National Court), the Office of Information and Assistance to Victims of Terrorism of the National Court and the Offices of Assistance to Victims of Crime of Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca, Avila, Burgos, Leon, Ponferrada, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid, Zamora, Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Toledo, Caceres, Plasencia, Badajoz, Merida, Murcia, Cartagena, Ceuta and Melilla. With the 28 new jobs that will be created with this decision, the number of Justice Administration personnel working in these offices doubles.

The OAVD are configured as a multidisciplinary service of attention to the needs of the victim, and public and free of charge, by the rights set out in European regulations and the Statute of the Victim of Crime.

The offices are units dependent on the ministry, which will be made up of personnel assigned to the Administration of Justice, in addition to psychology professionals or any other technical personnel deemed necessary for the provision of the service. They offer comprehensive assistance to support and accompany victims during the process, providing them with information in the legal and social sphere, and referring them to all available public resources.

In addition, the OAVDs provide psychological assistance when required, before, during and, for an appropriate period, after the conclusion of the criminal process. They offer information adapted to the personal circumstances of the victims and to the nature of the crimes committed, thus deepening the concept of “justice of care”, which is one of the strategic lines of the Ministry, pointed out by Minister Felix Bolaños last December before the Justice Commission of the Congress of Deputies.

Free access and without prior complaint
The service provided by the offices is not conditioned to the prior filing of a complaint so that victims can access it before the exercise of any criminal action. Its work is especially important in cases of gender violence since 75% of the victims are victims of crimes of this nature.

As a great novelty, the new Office of Assistance to Victims of Crime of the National Court will be put into operation, to provide support to all citizens who are victims of a crime whose prosecution falls under the jurisdiction of this body, with special emphasis on the various macro-cases with a large number of victims that are settled in this body. This office of the Audiencia Nacional joins the already existing Office of Information and Assistance to Victims of Terrorism.