Am I entitled to monetary compensation?
If you are a victim of a violent crime, you have the right to monetary compensation due to the consequences you have suffered as a result of a crime committed with intent with the use of physical force or other actions that resulted in severe health impairment.
You are a direct victim if you have suffered a serious impairment of your physical or mental health as a direct consequence of the committed crime.
You are also a direct victim if you have suffered a severe impairment of your physical or mental health, as a result of:
- attempt to prevent the commission of a violent crime
- providing assistance to the victim and
- assisting the police in the deprivation of liberty of a perpetrator of a violent crime
You can also be an indirect victim if you are a family member (marital or common-law partner, child, parent) of an immediate victim who died as a result of a violent crime.
The have the right to monetary compensation as a victim regardless of your status, i.e., if you are a citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia, a foreign citizen, based on the principle of reciprocity or an international agreement, a person without citizenship or a person not registered in the birth register if at the time of committing the crime they reside on the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia.
What is a violent crime?
Violent crime can be related to gender-based violence against women and domestic violence, a crime that violates a person’s gender integrity, a crime related to establishing the status of slavery and transporting persons with a status of slavery, human trafficking and child trafficking.
A violent crime can also be another crime that endangers a person’s life or property with a generally dangerous action, tool or means, which has caused death or serious bodily injury or serious impairment of the physical or mental health of one or more people.
What conditions do I have to fulfil in order to exercise the right to a monetary compensation?
A prerequisite for exercising the right to monetary compensation is that the crime has been recorded or reported to the police station or the public prosecutor’s office.
At your request, or at the request of your parent/guardian or representative, the police or the public prosecutor’s office are obliged to issue you with an appropriate notice, a record of receipt of a report, an official note or a confirmation that the crime has been reported or recorded as a crime.
You have the right to monetary compensation regardless of whether the perpetrator of the crime is known and regardless of whether criminal proceedings have been initiated against the perpetrator of the crime, or whether there are factual or legal obstacles to conducting criminal proceedings.
What types of monetary compensation can I receive?
You are entitled to monetary compensation for:
– costs of treatment and medical devices (maximum amount up to 2,000 EUR in MKD equivalent)
– lost earnings (maximum amount up to 2,000 EUR in MKD equivalent)
– funeral expenses (only if you have not charged them on another basis)
– lost alimony (maximum amount of 4,500 EUR in MKD equivalent) and
– solidarity assistance for suffered consequences of the crime (maximum amount up to 500 EUR in MKD equivalent value)
The amount of monetary compensation that you can receive for all types cannot exceed the total amount of 5,000 EUR in MKD equivalents.
