Representative of the minor victim under state legal aid

A special representative must be designated to a minor victim participating in the criminal proceedings, if his or her legal representatives cannot represent the victim due to a conflict of interests.

The body conducting the proceedings shall designate a representative to a victim with restricted active legal capacity under state legal aid, if it may be presumed under the circumstances of the crime or other things that the interests of the victim are in conflict with the interests of his or her legal representative. Such circumstances foremost concern criminal matters relating to sexual and physical abuse within families, where the alleged offender is a family member and the legal representative may have a close relationship with the offender. Upon assessing the circumstances, the body conducting the proceedings must come to the conclusion whether the interests of the child in the criminal proceeding might potentially be in conflict with the interests of his or her legal representative, and consequently make a decision on the need of state legal aid. In addition to conflicting interests, a representative must be designated to the victim if the child is separated from his or her family or he or she is an unaccompanied minor for the purposes of the Act on Granting International Protection to Aliens. Granting state legal aid to the injured party on behalf of the body conducting the proceedings should be considered especially in situations where the victim is a former or present family member or partner of the accused person or otherwise depending on the accused person, and the case involves sexual violence or human trafficking.