obligation on States to assist in ensuring that victims can be present at, and have their concerns and views considered during, criminal proceedings against traffickers (art. 6 (2) (b)). Both provisions are mandatory and echo a similar provision in the Organized Crime Convention (art. 25 (3)). The Protocol recognizes that the right of victims to be present and have their views known during legal proceedings is compromised by premature repatriation. It therefore requires States parties of destination to ensure, inter alia, “that such return shall be [undertaken] with due regard… for the safety of any legal proceedings related to the fact that the person is a victim of trafficking” (art. 8 (2)). This issue is considered further below in relation to temporary residence permits and, under Principle 11 and related guidelines, in the context of the obligation to ensure safe and preferably voluntary return. The European Trafficking Convention, which also requires any return to be undertaken with due regard for legal proceedings (art. 16 (2)), establishes a range of victim assistance provisions relating to the legal process, including an obligation on States parties to ensure that victims are given counselling and information regarding their legal rights in a language they understand (art. 12 (1)(d) and (e)). The SAARC Convention requires Member States to provide women and children victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation with legal assistance (art. 5). Soft-law support for a right of trafficked persons to legal information and assistance can found in the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. Paragraph 6 includes such actions as keeping victims informed as to the scope, timing and progress of proceedings and of the disposition of their cases as well as providing victims with proper assistance. A key General Assembly resolution on criminal justice measures to eliminate violence against women also urges States to “make available to women who have been subjected to violence information on rights and remedies and on how to obtain them, in addition to information about participating in criminal proceedings and the scheduling, progress and ultimate disposition of the proceedings”.351 Other resolutions of the General Assembly352 and the Commission on Human Rights/Human Rights Council,353 and concluding observations of United Nations treaty bodies,354 have also recommended the provision of legal assistance to victims of trafficking. In summary, victims should be given a genuine opportunity to consider their legal options. This requires, at a minimum, the provision of information of a type and in a manner that will allow them to make an informed choice. Should victims be involved in, or otherwise support, any form of legal action, they have the right to play a meaningful role in that process. 9.3. THE PARTICULAR PROTECTION AND SUPPORT NEEDS OF VICTIM WITNESSES355 Victims have a critical role to play in the criminal prosecution of traffickers and their accomplices. 351 Resolution 52/86, annex, para. 10 (a). Resolutions 61/144 (para. 15), 59/166 (para. 13) and 58/137 (para. 6). 352 Commission on Human Rights resolutions 2004/49 (para. 4) and 2004/45 (para. 20). 353 Committee against Torture, concluding observations: Indonesia (CAT/C/IDN/CO/2, para. 20); Ukraine (CAT/C/UKR/CO/5, para. 14); Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, concluding observations: Lebanon (CEDAW/C/LBN/CO/3, para. 29); Austria (CEDAW/C/AUT/CO/6, para. 26). 354 Additional information on this issue can be found in Gallagher and Holmes, loc. cit. 355 COMMENTARY 155