(AGENPARL) – gio 07 novembre 2024 PRESS RELEASE No 188/24
Luxembourg, 7 November 2024
Judgment of the Court in Case C-126/23 | [Burdene] 1
Compensation to victims of violent intentional crime: the automatic
exclusion of certain family members of the victim of homicide does not
guarantee ‘fair and appropriate’ compensation
Factors other than family ties alone must be taken into account, such as the extent of the harm suffered by the
excluded family members
In 2018, an Italian court ordered a man, the perpetrator of the homicide of his ex-partner, to pay compensation to
the members of the victim’s family. As the perpetrator of the homicide was insolvent, the Italian State paid
compensation, at a reduced amount as compared to that initially provided for, only to the victim’s children and her
spouse, from whom she had been separated for several years. 2
The victim’s parents, sister and children brought proceedings before the District Court, Venice (Italy) seeking ‘fair and
appropriate’ compensation, which takes into account the harm they suffered as a result of the homicide.
In that context, the Italian court asks the Court of Justice whether national legislation which automatically excludes
the payment of compensation to certain family members of the victim of violent intentional crime in the event of the
death of that person resulting from homicide is compatible with the EU directive on compensation to crime
victims. 3
The Court states, first of all, that that directive requires Member States to establish a national scheme on
compensation which is capable of covering not only persons who have themselves been subject to violent
intentional crime, as direct victims, but also their close family members where those family members suffer,
indirectly, the consequences of that crime, as indirect victims.
Furthermore, the Court reiterates that the directive in question imposes on each Member State the obligation to
establish a scheme on compensation to victims of violent intentional crime which guarantees fair and
appropriate compensation. Although Member States have a margin of discretion in that regard, they cannot
confine themselves to purely symbolic or manifestly insufficient compensation having regard to the seriousness of
the consequences, for those victims, of the crime committed.
The contribution must adequately compensate the suffering to which those victims have been exposed, in order
to contribute to the reparation of the material and non-material harm suffered. In addition, where the national
scheme concerned provides for fixed rate compensation, the compensation scale must be sufficiently detailed so as
to avoid the possibility that the compensation provided for a specific type of violence proves to be manifestly
insufficient.
The Court therefore holds that a national scheme that automatically excludes certain family members from
entitlement to all compensation solely because of the presence of other family members, without taking into
account other considerations (such as, inter alia, the material consequences for those family members of the
Communications Directorate
Press and Information Unit
curia.europa.eu
homicide of the person concerned or the fact that they were dependants of the deceased person or lived with him
or her), cannot result in ‘fair and appropriate’ compensation.
NOTE: A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and tribunals of the Member States, in disputes which
have been brought before them, to refer questions to the Court of Justice about the interpretation of EU law or the
validity of an EU act. The Court of Justice does not decide the dispute itself. It is for the national court or tribunal to
dispose of the case in accordance with the Court’s decision, which is similarly binding on other national courts or
tribunals before which a similar issue is raised.
Unofficial document for media use, not binding on the Court of Justice.
The full text and, as the case may be, an abstract of the judgment is published on the CURIA website on the day of
delivery.
Stay Connected!
The name of the present case is a fictitious name. It does not correspond to the real name of any of the parties to the proceedings.
The Italian compensation scheme on compensation for violent intentional crime provides that the parents of a deceased person may receive
compensation only in the absence of a spouse and children and that the siblings may obtain compensation only in the absence of parents.
Council Directive 2004/80/EC of 29 April 2004 relating to compensation to crime victims.
Communications Directorate