Poland, Spain want EU help for crime victims

(WARSAW) - Poland and Spain have begun a drive to create EU-wide protection for victims of crimes such as sexual abuse and trafficking, Polish Justice Minister Krzysztof Kwiatkowski was quoted as saying Thursday.

"We want national justice rulings to be applicable across the territory of the European Union, and not just in the country concerned," Kwiatkowski told the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita.

As it stands, victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking only get legal protection in the country where the perpetrators of the crime have been found guilty.

If they move to another EU member state, the victims therefore face the spectre of cross-border revenge -- and starting a new legal process.

Poland and Spain want threatened individuals to be able to get rapid help from the police in any of the EU's 27 member states, Kwiatkowski explained.

He said the goal is to create an "EU protection warrant", similar to the EU arrest warrant that makes its easier to transfer suspected criminals between member states without going through lengthy extradition procedures.

Formal work on the protection warrant is set to begin in the first half of next year, when Spain takes over the rotating EU presidency from Sweden.

Rzeczpospolita said Poland and Spain had won support from Baltic and Nordic nations.