- The Decree defines the Operating Regulations of the application appraisal body
- The Committee will henceforth be convened and will start its work, as per the procedure established in the Decree
The Government Cabinet has given the go ahead for the Decree to enact the procedure regulate in Chapter IV of Act 12/2016, concerning the recognition of the status of victim of any person suffering human rights violations in the context of politically motivated violence, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, between 1978 and 1999, amended by Act 5/2019, of 4 April.
The Decree, envisaged in the Seventh Additional Provision of the Act, determines the modus operandi of the Assessment Committee, whose function is to assess the applications submitted and propose, where appropriate, the declaration of victim status, and as applicable, the reparation measures or the rejection of the submitted application.
The approved Decree consists of a Recitals section, 13 articles and a final provision.
Download leaflet (PDF, 548 KB) (in Spanish)
Content of the Decree
- Classificationof the different scenarios of the victims of human rights infringements in each of the two historical periods in questions. Those scenarios are divided into deceased victims, victims with permanent injuries in their different degrees of disability or permanent injuries not resulting in disability, and, finally, victims of serious abuse and non-permanent injuries (Article 3).
- Regulation and operational principles of the Assessment Committee. The function of the Assessment Committee is to evaluate the applications submitted and propose the declaration of victim status or its rejection. The Decree stresses, in this regard, the obligations of the Assessment Committee. Its performance must guarantee that, under no circumstances, there is no invasion of the jurisdictional function. In those cases where the Assessment Committee becomes aware of court cases or administrative disciplinary proceedings underway, it shall suspend the processing of the procedure (Article 4).
- Confidentiality and data protection. The members of the Assessment Committee shall sign a confidentiality agreement prior to being allowed to access the case files, and which shall remain in place even after they are no longer members (Article 5).
- Actions that the Assessment Committee may carry out in the inquiry phase and which will end with a technical report (Article 6).
- Guarantees regarding the rights of third partiesappearing in the administrative cases, which include the right to honour, to the presumption of innocence and to the protection of personal data, and measures adopted for their protection, while guaranteeing, in any event, that their constitutional and legal rights shall not be affected (Article 7).
- Interview protocolto be implemented by the Assessment Committee (Article 8).
- Principle of interinstitutional cooperation. Relations with authorities, bodies and entities or individuals, whether public or private, shall be conducted under the principle of interinstitutional cooperation and shall be voluntary. (Article 9).
- Content of the technical reportto be produced by the experts on the Assessment Committee detailing the sections in which it is structured (Article 10).
- Minimum content of the reasoned reportto be issued by the Assessment Committee to rule on each application (Article 11).
- Minimum content of the annual report of the Assessment Committee on the results of their work (Article 12).
- Content of a final report on the overall results, which will also include recommendations (Article 13).
The Committee will henceforth be convened and will start its work, as per the procedure established in the Decree. Act 12/2016 recognising and assessing human rights victims is thus continuing on its path, according to the procedural and legal pathway established.