Victims of terrorism and other intentional acts of violence will now have two more years to apply for financial intervention from the Victims' Fund, announced Federal Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt on Friday.
For the victims of the 2016 Brussels terror attacks who have not yet applied or applied late, an 18-month transition period has now been given to receive compensation.
"Victims of terrorist attacks face a lot of problems. In the past, the government too often failed to support them," said Federal Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt. "The Victims' Fund provides up to €125,000 in aid and we introduced an accelerated procedure. To make sure everyone can qualify, we extended the application deadline."
Those who become victims of terrorism (or other kinds of deliberate violence) and face financial problems can now count on an intervention by the Commission for Financial Assistance to Victims of Deliberate Acts of Violence, informally known as the Victims' Fund.
'Administrative merry-go-round'
In serious offences, the costs of medical and psychological assistance often run high even before the trial starts. Additionally, terrorism perpetrators are also, in some cases, unable to compensate for the damages determined according to the court's judgment.
The Financial Aid Commission can therefore award up to €125,000 per person. The fund considers requests objectively on the basis of a criminal record, a judgment, medical certificates, invoices and other documents.
For acts of terrorism, the Victims' Fund can intervene immediately as soon as the incident has been recognised as a terrorist attack. In deliberate acts of violence, the rule is that damages must first be recovered from the perpetrator through legal proceedings. If there is still damage after that, the victims' fund can intervene.
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Until now, the time limit to apply for victim fund intervention was three years, which is a long time for victims to find themselves in the country's "administrative merry-go-round," Van Tigchelt's office said.
This meant that damages were initially recovered from insurance. If this turned out to be negative, inadequate or if the victim had not filed an application within the required three years, they were left out in the cold. Even at the trial on the 2016 attacks, new victims were still registering even though the deadline to submit an application had already passed.
Previously, several initiatives had already been taken to better assist victims, with the necessary reinforcements at the Victims' Fund and faster application procedures.
Additionally, Van Tigchelt also envisaged a legislative amendment to extend the application period for financial intervention – which was approved Thursday night by the plenary as part of the "bill to make justice more humane, faster, and more punitive."
