THE TRIAL

The trial is the legal stage of which the law is competent to exam the facts and to decide regarding the penal guilt and civil responsibility with regard to repair the damage suffered by the victim.

THE DATE OF THE TRIAL

The General Procurer designates the competent jurisdiction and informs you of the date of your trial. This information is communicated to you:

  • Either by post, you will receive an Notification to the Victim,
  • Either by a bailiff. They will hand to you a summons.

E TRIAL PARTICIPATION

You are not obliged to be present at the trial, except in the case where the bailiff has handed to you a summons.

You can always send a letter to the jurisdiction to explain the reasons of your choice or to justify your absence.

Whatever your decision is, the court will judge anyway, the perpetrator of the offence.

The bringing of a civil action against your attacker is a legal formality that permits you to intervene at your trial and to demand that the perpetrator of the offence be convicted and to compensate your damages.

You must establish yourself, with the assistance of A.V.I.P. or your lawyer, your demand for reimbursement of all known fees and damages. For this you must prepare a file comprising of and according to the damages that you have suffered:

Regarding corporal damage: medical certificates, sick leave attestations, statements for daily payments from the Social Security, statements for reimbursement from your complimentary medical insurance…

All of these elements can allow you to justify in the court, your costs to be paid by you (medical, for example), loss of salary…

Warning: It is often necessary to demand a medical expertise in order to evaluate the importance of this damage.

The court can also ask you to pay a deposit in advance (a sum of money corresponding to the payment of the expert), except if you benefit from legal aid.

Regarding material damages: an estimate or bill for repairs, the expert’s report from your insurance company, the bill for the stolen object…

If your insurance company covers the damage within your insurance policy, you will not have to demand at the trial the reimbursement of the excess.

Regarding these demands, they can concern a sum for the repairs of your moral damage, that you can freely calculate alone or with the assistance of a lawyer.

The bringing of a civil action against your attacker allows you to also make other demands, such as a prohibition for the perpetrator to enter into to contact with you, a restraining order (for example in the case of domestic violence…)

Warning: It is for the judge to grant or not of these demands, this cannot give you more than you will ask for. For the bringing of a civil action against your attacker,  it is strongly recommended that you are assisted or represented by a lawyer.

If you have been hurt following the facts and your social organism has reimbursed your medical costs, medication, or you have received daily benefit payments, you must notify the court.

In fact, your social organism can intervene at your trial to ask the court to convict the perpetrator and to reimburse you the sums paid in advance for your medical care.

Warning: If the social organism is not informed of the date of your trail, the court can be postponed to a future date.

THE TRIAL DECISION

The court makes its decision on the same day or at a future date.

With this decision the court judges upon the guilt of the perpetrator and, if you have brought a civil action against your attacker, judges their civil responsibility, by awarding you the reimbursement of costs undertaken and an eventual allowance for the expenses that need to be made.

If a medical expert report is prescribed, the case will come back before the same jurisdiction to decide on the definitive amount of corporal damage.

You can obtain directly or from your lawyer, a copy of the judgement, which is necessary for the execution of the decision.

This document will not be given until the decision has become definitive, that means after the limit of the period of reappeal.

THE A.V.I.P. ASSOCIATION

The Victims of Offences Help Association, A.V.I.P., abbreviation in French, was created in July, 2014 under the law no. 1.382 of July 20th, 2011 corresponding with the prevention and suppression of specific violence.

HOW TO PROVE THAT YOU ARE A VICTIM

During the denunciation of the facts, your explanations must be clear, precise and complete and you must gather together the maximum amount of proof in order to show the existence of a criminal offence and damage.

WHO CAN I TURN TO

Face à une situation difficile, vous n’êtes pas seul(e) et plusieurs dispositifs sont à votre écoute pour vous aider, vous guider et vous accompagner.