Towards adequate provisions to protect vulnerable persons in criminal proceedings: a comparative study of Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and England and Wales.

Many suspects, victims and witnesses involved in a criminal procedure suffer from a psychological problem, such as a mental disorder, which may hamper their understanding of the proceedings and their legal rights. Moreover, the statements such vulnerable persons provide to the police, public prosecutor or judge may be inconsistent and incorrect. Therefore, the specific needs of these so-called vulnerable persons have been recognized in academic literature, EU law and by the ECtHR over the past years, albeit in an unequal and fragmented way. Consequently, different countries struggle to adequately define and deal with vulnerable persons. In addition, the identification of their vulnerability by the police and judicial authorities appears to be complex and insufficient. Also, because there is a predominant focus on psychological factors rendering a person vulnerable, the interactive and dynamic nature of vulnerability is mostly overlooked. Hence, the envisaged research aims to enhance the treatment of vulnerable persons in criminal proceedings by examining to what extent the legal approach to vulnerability complies with how vulnerability manifests itself; exploring when and how vulnerability can be identified by the police and judicial authorities in law and practice; and testing a model with vulnerability indicators to improve this identification. The study adopts a theoretical, comparative and empirical approach analysing Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and England & Wales.

Keywords:Vulnerable persons, criminal procedure, procedural safeguards

Disciplines:Criminology not elsewhere classified, Psychology of law