About the Justice Fund
The Victims and Post-release Assistance Fund, referred to here as the Justice Fund, is a special purpose fund aimed at helping victims and witnesses, preventing crime and post-release assistance. The Minister of Justice acts as the administrator of the Justice Fund.
The Justice Fund was established pursuant to Art. 43 of the Executive Penal Code Act of 6 June 1997 (OJ 2018, item 652, as amended). Detailed rules for granting aid and subsidies under the Fund were set out in the Regulation of the Minister of Justice of 13 September 2017 on the Victims and Post-release Assistance Fund - the Justice Fund (OJ 2017, item 1760). The regulation defines the rules and modes for granting subsidies to public sector bodies, as well non-governmental organisations. The Fund's resources are allocated for:
- assisting victims of crime and their relatives and partners, especially providing medical and psychological help, rehabilitation, legal and material aid,
- post-release assistance to those released from prisons and remand centres
as well as their relatives and partners, provided by professional probation officers and the Prison Service, - activities undertaken or entrusted by the Fund's Administrator, aimed at supporting and developing a system of assistance for victims of crime and witnesses, as well as post-release assistance, as well as tackling the causes of crime, in particular:
- promoting and supporting initiatives and projects that serve to improve the situation of crime victims, as well as effective re-integration of convicts,
- undertaking educational and informational activities, including those related to causes and determinants of crime and crime prevention,
- covering costs related to organising and conducting educational activities, post-graduate studies, supplementary training courses,
- conducting, organising and commissioning scientific research, development work, cooperation with other entities in this field, covering the situation and needs of crime victims, witnesses, convicts, as well as the causes and determinants of crime and crime prevention,
- promoting a system of assistance to crime victims and witnesses, as well as post-release assistance,
- disseminating knowledge about the rights of crime victims and alternative methods of conflict resolution, in particular mediation in family, juvenile and criminal cases,
- activities supporting families at risk of becoming dysfunctional, in particular in the field of addiction prevention and therapy, co-dependence and conflict resolution within the family.
The full range of assistance provided under the Justice Fund was listed in OJ §36-37 and §39 of the Resolution of the Minister of Justice of 13 September 2017, on the Victims and Post-release Assistance Fund – the Justice Fund