Equipped to ACT: Legal Perspectives (Criminal & Civil)

Domestic violence requires an integrated legal response that combines criminal accountability with effective civil protection and victim support. This session examines the legal framework for preventing and combating domestic violence from both criminal and civil law perspectives, with particular emphasis on European and international standards. It explores the key principles and obligations established by the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention, including prevention, protection, prosecution and coordinated policies, as well as the Convention’s requirements concerning criminalisation, risk assessment, emergency barring and protection orders, compensation, legal aid and victims’ procedural rights.

Particular attention is given to EU Directive 2024/1385 on combating violence against women and domestic violence, which introduces common minimum standards and strengthens the European response to both traditional and emerging forms of violence, including cyberstalking, cyber harassment and non-consensual sharing of intimate images. The session compares criminal and civil mechanisms and considers how these complementary approaches contribute to offender accountability, immediate victim protection, access to justice and longer-term safety.

Using a comparative and interactive methodology, participants are encouraged to bring examples from their national legal systems and apply international and EU standards to practical case scenarios involving psychological violence, stalking, cross-border protection and technology-facilitated abuse. The session concludes with an applied exercise in which participants develop a model university-level protocol for responding to domestic violence affecting students or staff, connecting legal standards with institutional prevention, reporting, referral and protection mechanisms.