11 Amendments of Carlos COELHO related to 2010/0064(COD)
Amendment 63 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) Measures to protect child victims and measures to adapt the justice system dealing with them should be adopted in their best interest, taking into account an assessment of their needs. Child victims should have easy access to legal remedies, including free legal counselling and representation and measures to address conflicts of interest where abuse occurs in the family and of their right to be protected against the risk of repeated victimisation, especially through violation of their privacy, and giving their opinions and views due weight, as envisaged, for example, in the UN Guidelines on Justice in Matters involving Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime and in the Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on child friendly justice. Child victims should have easy access to legal remedies, including free legal counselling and representation and measures to address conflicts of interest where abuse occurs in the family. In that regard, child victims, and their parents if not implicated in the alleged abuse, should be fully informed about their rights, the services at their disposal, the progress and outcome of the proceedings, and legal counselling and representation should also be provided for claiming compensation. Furthermore, provisions should be made for non-implicated parents or guardians to receive adequate help and training in order to assist their child throughout the proceedings and the recovery period. Moreover, child victims should be protected from sanctions, for example under national legislation on immigration or prostitution, if they bring their case to the attention of competent authorities. Furthermore, participation in criminal proceedings by child victims should not cause additional trauma as a result of interviews or visual contact with offenders.
Amendment 75 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) Child pornographysexual abuse material, which constitutes sex abuse images, is a specific type of content which cannot be construed as the expression of an opinion. To combat it, it is necessary to reduce the circulation of child sexual abuse material by making it more difficult for offenders to upload such content onto the publicly accessible Web. Action is therefore necessary to remove the content at source and apprehend those guilty by avoiding inefficient technical measures which not only leave the illegal material online but also lead to the re-victimisation of abused children. Action is therefore necessary to remove the content at source as quickly as possible, as well as to take action against those who are under strong suspicion of making, distributing or downloading child sexual abuse imagesterial. The EU, in particular through increased cooperation with third countries and international organisations, should seek to facilitate the effective removal by third country authorities of websites containing child pornography, which are hosted in their territory. However as, despite such efforts, the removal of child pornography content at its source proves to be difficult where the original materials are not located within the EU, mechanisms should also be put in place to block access from the Union's territory to internet pages identified as containing or disseminating child pornography. For that purpose, different mechanisms can be used as appropriate, including facilitating the competent judicial or police authorities to order such blocking, orwith the help of bilateral or multilateral agreements, should seek to facilitate the effective removal and concurrent criminal prosecution by third country authorities of persons in their territory who placed child sexual abuse material on websites or caused its distribution over the Internet. For that purpose it is necessary to use the results of Safer Internet Programme, supporting and stimulatinge the Internet Service Pproviders on a voluntary basis to develop codes of conduct and guidelines for blocking access to such Internet pages. Both with a view to the removal and the blocking of child abuse content, cooperation between public authorities should be established and strengthened, particularly in the interest of ensuring that national lists of websites containing child pornography material are as complete as possible and of avoiding duplication of work. Any such developments must take account of the rights of the end users, adhere to existing legal and judicial procedures and comply with the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Safer Internet Programme has set up a network of hotlines whose goal is to collect information and to ensure coverage and exchange of reports on the major types of illegal content online, as well as cooperate with the relevant NGOs and associations, like the Association of Internet Hotlines. Cooperation between the initiatives, public authorities and the Internet Service Providers industry should be established and strengthened to coordinate and expedite communication of notices, take- down efforts and evidence gathering for prosecution. Any such measures must respect the rights of the end users, be introduced by law, comply with judicial procedures and comply with the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b – introductory part
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b – introductory part
(b) "child pornography" or "child sexual abuse material" shall mean
Amendment 107 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 2
2. Causing, for sexual purposes, a child who has not reached the age of sexual consent under national law to witness sexual abuse or sexual activities, even without having to participate, shall be punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least twohree years.
Amendment 210 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1
Article 8 – paragraph 1
Amendment 238 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 13 – paragraph 1
Article 13 – paragraph 1
Member States shall provide for the possibility of, in accordance with the basic principles of their legal systems, take the necessary measures to ensure that competent national authorities are entitled not to prosecutinge or imposinge penalties on child victims of the offences referred to in Articles 4 and Article 5 (4) to (6) for their involvement in unlawful activities as a direct consequence of being subjected to those offences.
Amendment 261 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 17 – paragraph 1
Article 17 – paragraph 1
1. Victims of the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7 shall be provided assistance, support and protection, taking into account the best interests of the child. Assistance and training should be extended to the parents or guardians of the child, in case they are not implicated as suspects in relation to the offence concerned, in order to help them assist their child throughout the proceedings and the recovery period.
Amendment 315 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – title
Article 21 – title
Amendment 323 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 1
Article 21 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall take the necessary legal measures to obtain the blocking of access by Internet users in their territory to Internet pages containing or disseminating child pornography. The blocking of access shall be subject to adequate safeguards, in particular to ensure that the blocking is limited to what is necessary, that users are informed of the reason for the blocking and that content providers, as far as possible, are informed of the possibility of challenging itfor the rapid removal at source of child sexual abuse material stored or disseminated on Internet pages whether hosted in the EU or abroad. The removal at source shall be subject to clear legal and judicial safeguards, in particular to ensure that the evidence is preserved for criminal investigations.
Amendment 336 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 2
Article 21 – paragraph 2
2. Without prejudice to the above, Member States shall take the necessary measures to obtain the removal of ihere Member States implement additional measures to restrict access by Internet users in their territory to Internet pages containing or disseminationg child pornographysexual abuse material, these must be necessary, transparent, proportionate, prescribed by law and subject to the control of a judge, in accordance with legal systems of Member States.
Amendment 342 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 21 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. The European Commission shall submit to the European Parliament an annual report on the activities undertaken by Member States to remove child sexual abuse material from Internet pages.