As a victim, you have the right to claim compensation for the harm that you have suffered due to a hate crime. This might be for physical or moral suffering and/or for material damage.
Request for compensation during criminal proceedings
In France, as a victim, you may request compensation in a criminal trial if the person responsible for the damage has committed a criminal offence. If no criminal offence has been committed, the victim who has suffered from a loss as result of an action or negligence from someone may claim compensation before the civil courts. This is called the principle of civil liability and it is different from compensation in criminal proceedings. In the case of hate crimes, the compensation will be requested during the criminal proceedings as hate crime is a criminal offence.
To obtain compensation during a criminal proceeding, you must apply to be a civil party, which means that you must make a civil claim. Compensation will not be granted automatically as a result of the perpetrator’s condemnation. Civil party status is granted by the criminal court if you have suffered as a result of the offence and made a civil claim for compensation.
More information about the civil party status.
You may apply to become a civil party before or during the trial:
- Before the trial: This application can be made at any time during the pre-trial stage of criminal proceedings, for example during the investigations or after having filed a complaint at the police station.
- During the trial: At the beginning of the trial in the court of first instance, you may apply to become a civil party orally when the case is raised by the president or by submitting a written application. You may apply only up to the time that the public prosecutor intervenes and asks the judge to condemn the perpetrator.
Types of losses that can be compensated
You can ask for compensation of actual harmful consequences caused directly by the offence. You may ask to be compensated for the loss of:
- material loss (damaged or lost property, financial loss)
example A damaged car, or money that you have spent for your treatment in a hospital to recover from the physical or moral damage caused by the hate crime.
- moral suffering
- physical injury
example If you had been kidnapped and held in captivity during the hate crime, you may request compensation for the moral damage which you experienced. In addition, you may seek compensation for the physical damage if you were physically injured. Also, you may request compensation for material loss if you lost earnings because you interrupted your professional activity as a result of captivity.
important If you have referred the matter to the civil court, you cannot appeal to the criminal court for the same complaint, unless the Prosecutor has initiated criminal proceedings before the civil court has ruled on the merits.
Amount of compensation
In determining the amount of your compensation for moral suffering, the court will consider:
- the gravity of the offence
- the injuries you suffered and their consequences
- the psychological trauma you may have suffered and other factors
You must quantify the amount of the damage requested and provide all the necessary evidence for the court to make its decision and fix the level of compensation.
Civil claim
If you have not requested compensation during the trial, you can lodge a civil claim for damages. You can file a civil claim for damages even if the criminal court has acquitted the accused. This claim must be submitted to the civil court. Depending on the sums asked as compensation, the competent court will not be the same:
- If the amount of your claim is less than or equal to €10,000, you can submit your claim before a local court or a judicial court
- If the amount of your claim is greater than €10,000, you can only submit your claim before a judicial court.
Administrative claim
If your suffering has been caused by a civil servant in the course of a public service, you can lodge an administrative claim for damages. You must bring the case before an administrative court to claim compensation from the administration or the public service concerned.
example A public official harassed and then beat his colleague because he had begun his gender transition.
Compensation from the State
You may apply for state guaranteed compensation only in cases where the criminal proceedings were initiated, you have obtained the official status of a victim in those proceedings and the person responsible is not identified or is insolvent. Therefore, there are two options:
- If the perpetrator can compensate the victim: the perpetrator pays damages to the victim
- If the perpetrator cannot compensate the victim: the victim must apply for compensation from the Commission for Compensation to Victims of Offences (Commission d‘indemnisation des victimes d‘infraction), which forwards the application to the Victims' Guarantee Fund (Fonds de garantie des victimes). If the Commission is unable to pay compensation, the victim must apply to the Offence Victims Recovery Assistance Service (Service d'aide au recouvrement des victimes d'infractions)
Compensation & Human rights
Compensation for victims is one of the components of proper redress in cases where suffering has been experienced from hate crimes. Therefore, the State is responsible, firstly, to ensure that the legal framework provides for an opportunity to request such compensation, and secondly, to ensure that the claims for compensation are considered by the pertinent state authorities according to law.
The failure to ensure the legal regulations providing for compensation, or the failure by the pertinent state authorities to award compensation according to the appropriate legal regulations, may result in a violation of the right to an effective remedy.