Who will compensate the victim?
Who will compensate the victim?
"In the Marina case (see Tribune de Genève of 10 December 2011), in which a young student was shot in the head, the accused was ordered to pay the plaintiff CHF 147,000 in compensation. Who will have to pay this compensation if the defendant is destitute?
Richard, Grand-Lancy
A criminal court judge can order an accused person to pay compensation for the moral or financial damage he or she has caused. However, despite the criminal judgement, convicted offenders often fail to compensate their victims, who are left, after months or even years of proceedings, to face the consequences of the offence alone.
To counter this risk, the legislator decided to provide support to a certain category of injured parties by adopting the Federal Act on Assistance to Crime Victims (LAVI). This category, known as victims, includes anyone who has suffered physical, psychological or sexual harm.
If the injured party falls into the category of victim, and has been unable to obtain payment of the compensation owed by the convicted offender either directly or after exhausting the debt collection procedure, he or she may be eligible for assistance to obtain effective compensation for his or her financial or non-material loss, provided that other parties, such as insurance companies, do not pay sufficient benefits.
It should be noted that some victims may be refused assistance, as this also depends on their financial means; this assistance is only paid in full if the beneficiary's income does not cover his or her minimum vital needs. In any case, the amount cannot exceed CHF 120,000.
As for compensation for non-material damage, this does not depend on the victim's financial resources, but it is subject to the occurrence of a serious injury and is limited to a maximum of CHF 70,000.
In view of the above and given the circumstances of the case, it is clear that Marina, whose physical integrity was violated, must be considered a victim within the meaning of the LAVI. Consequently, if none of the above-mentioned parties pays her sufficient benefits, she may claim compensation for non-pecuniary damage of up to CHF 70,000 from the Geneva LAVI Compensation Authority, since the injury is definitely serious. She may also claim compensation for material damage up to a maximum of CHF 120,000, including the costs of her hospitalisation, if she fulfils the conditions for entitlement laid down by law.
