Europe must be more ambitious in protecting vulnerable adults

The path and objectives to be drawn up for the construction of an effective strategy to protect and promote the active participation of vulnerable adults in an open Europe, must be through solutions that ensure that these people can exercise their rights, defend their interests and have full access to Justice, regardless of the place and State in which they are, said the Minister of Justice, who closed the High Level Conference on Protecting Vulnerable Adults across Europe – the Way Forward, which took place this Tuesday, under the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Francisca Van Dunem pointed out that, at civil level, there is no common and uniform applicable European legal instrument, nor are there any minimum standards applicable in the European Union, and that the existing measures at national level in the Member States are insufficient to address issues related to the daily lives of vulnerable adults in cross-border situations. This raises, for example, doubts about the legislation to be applied or their representation and the extent of their powers.

“In these circumstances, we believe it is important to have uniform and clear measures, easily recognizable in all Member States, to ensure the protection of vulnerable adults and their property,” said the Minister of Justice.

The 2000 Hague Convention on the International Protection of Adults plays an undeniable role in this process, but only a third of the Member States of the European Union have ratified it.

Today’s debate has shown that the accession of all Member States to this Convention would ensure a standardised legal framework, in the opinion of the Minister of Justice, through the use of existing structures and making the most of the efforts and results, addressing the shortcomings and overcoming substantial obstacles to the exercise of rights.

The interventions made at the High Level Conference have also shown that the European Union can and must be more ambitious. “While it is important to gather experience and evaluate the results of the application of the Convention, we must aim to go further”, said Francisca Van Dunem. “The European Commission has told us that it is committed to examining the possible ways forward and the Council is looking forward to the results of this exercise”.

Distinct realities for the same dimension

To talk about vulnerable adults does not only imply a civil dimension. It is also important to bear in mind the criminal dimension. The Minister of Justice considers that the Conference made it possible to look at two distinct realities in the context of criminal proceedings, that of the vulnerable adult as a suspect, witness or defendant, and that of the vulnerable adult as a victim of a crime. “These are two realities that deserve a closer look at European level, since fundamental rights are at stake, in most cases”.

The current European legal framework in the criminal field is more detailed than that in the civil sphere and, as such, the intervention to be carried out will involve smaller legislative work, more focused on some readjustments, support structures, operationalisation and optimisation of existing mechanisms, said Francisca Van Dunem.

The 2009 roadmap for strengthening procedural rights of suspected or accused persons in criminal proceedings was a milestone towards the recognition of the need to establish minimum standards applicable in criminal proceedings in the several Member States. The legislative instruments that implemented the roadmap have one way or another safeguarded the position of vulnerable adults.

“The return to this roadmap and, in particular, to the instruments that have implemented it, with the aim of protecting vulnerable adults, as people who somehow have their abilities diminished, seems therefore necessary”, argued the Minister of Justice.

“To guarantee the implementation of each of its measures, ensuring that vulnerable adults, on an equal footing and irrespective of the Member State in which they are, have access to Law and Justice, and in particular, to a fair and equitable process, in which the exercise of the right of defence is not affected, "must be a priority of the European Union”.

Within the framework of victim’s protection, it is important to implement the European Victims Strategy and ensure full implementation of the Directive 2012/29/EU, which lays down minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, as well as other instruments, including specific provisions on victims, such as the so-called Terrorism Directive (Directive (EU) 2017/541).

“More than legislating, as resulted from the discussion, we must seek to achieve full and effective implementation of the existing legislative acquis and only then assess the possible need to rectify some remaining inadequacy or to find a solution to emerging problems”.

To promote the exercise of rights

Another conclusion to be drawn from the conference, according to the Minister for Justice, is that the measures to be adopted must be based on the promotion of the exercise of rights by vulnerable adults. “These people must be seen as citizens for whom support mechanisms must be provided to ensure the access, without any constraints, to Law and Justice, and, above all, to ensure full enjoyment of the status of European citizenship”.

On a civil level, the accession to the Hague Convention must be an objective to be achieved in order to allow better protection for the vulnerable adults within the European Union.

“To guarantee an extended protection, with no exclusions, ensuring equivalent protection of the fundamental rights of all people, must be a common goal to be achieved, without forgetting the protection to be given to particularly vulnerable victims such as women and children,” underlined Francisca Van Dunem.

For the Minister of Justice, the High Level Conference on Protecting Vulnerable Adults across Europe – the Way Forward has enabled a broad sharing of ideas, best practices, reflections and possible solutions. “The Portuguese Presidency in the area of justice will not fail to draw its conclusions on the interventions and ideas that have emerged from this conference, which it will present to the Justice and Home Affairs Council of Ministers next June”.

Watch or review, in full, the High Level Conference on Protecting Vulnerable Adults across Europe – the Way Forward: