Criminal detention and alternatives: fundamental rights aspects in EU cross-border transfers instance, be the risk of revenge by the victim in gangrelated offences. The respect for the private life of the perpetrator can also exceed the victim’s need for safety if there is a concrete risk of harassment of the perpetrator by a third party.343 It should be remembered that, like many aspects of the Framework Decisions, whether the right to information about releases includes information about transfers is not entirely clear, owing to the relative newness of the instruments, their very recent implementation, and a lack of established practice. As pointed out by the Ministry for Justice of North Rhine Westphalia, not many requests to provide information about transfers are made in practice.344 Right to receive information on decisions to transfer The Victims’ Rights Directive does not explicitly provide for the right to information on transfer decisions. Instead, it provides – in Chapter 2 – for a general right to be informed about criminal proceedings, and specifies – in Article 8 (1) – that Member States shall ensure support to victims of crime before, during and for an appropriate time after criminal proceedings. In about one third of Member States, victims have a right to receive information on decisions to transfer prisoners/suspects. These Member States have established a positive duty to inform victims on decisions to transfer perpetrators of crime against them either through law (Belgium, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom) or practice (Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden). In some Member States this right is not explicitly established in law – for example, in the Netherlands, the legislation does not refer to victims in the context of transfer or is only partially applicable – i.e. under certain conditions/circumstances only, or only for victims of certain types of crime. Again, in many Member States, receiving this information appears to be dependent on the victim making 343 Denmark, Preparatory works to Bill L 134, amending the Administration of Justice Act and Act on state compensation to victims of crimes (Notification of leave and release etc. and extended time limits for police reporting for state compensation to victims of crimes) (Forslag til lov nr. L 134, folketingsåret 2010-11 (1. samling) om ændring af retsplejeloven og lov om erstatning fra staten til ofre for forbrydelser. (Underretning ved udgang og løsladelse m.v. og udvidelse af fristen for politianmeldelse ved erstatning fra staten til ofre for forbrydelser)), parliamentary year 2010–2011 (1st session). 344 Germany, Representative of the Ministry for Justice of North Rhine Westphalia. 104 a  request (for example, in Belgium,345 Germany,346 and the Netherlands).347 Addressing this victims’ right appears to be standard practice only in the United Kingdom; although victims do not have a statutory right to be involved in the transfer process, where victims or their families are in contact with a ‘Victim Liaison Scheme’, they will be informed through their ‘Victim Liaison Officer’ that a  prisoner is being considered for transfer.348 In other Member States – for example, Malta – it is unclear whether a transfer would be considered a form of ‘release’ and the duty of notification would therefore apply – the relevant law was enacted only in April 2015. Right to receive information on the status of transfers Victims have a right to receive information on the status of transfers of prisoners/suspects in only six states (Belgium, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom). As with the right to receive information on transfers of suspected, accused, or sentenced persons, in four of the six Member States, this right is not fully established in law or only applies to certain categories of victims. There are virtually no explicit procedures in place in any Member State to provide this information, although, as mentioned, authorities can often provide such information at the victim’s request in about a third of Member States – again, with certain conditions. For example, in Cyprus, the duty to inform the victim applies both as issuing and as executing state, provided the authorities are in possession of information which, according to the laws on trafficking and sexual abuse, must be disclosed to victims.349 In such cases, the party responsible for providing the information varies in Member States. They include judges, such as in Belgium, Poland, and Slovenia. They can also include prosecution services or the police, such as in Cyprus, the Netherlands and Slovakia; prisons or probation or other detention facilities – such as in the Czech Republic, Ireland and Sweden; or others, such as the official with the relevant information in Finland and the National Offender Management Service’s Victims Liaison Unit in the United Kingdom. In most cases, the required format of the information is not specified and can be either oral or written. The United Kingdom appears to have the clearest procedure in place: information on victims residing in the executing state may 345 Belgium, Representative of the Ministry of Justice. 346 Germany, Criminal Procedure Code (Strafprozessordnung), 7 April 1987, Art. 406 d. 347 Netherlands, Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 51 b. 348 United Kingdom, Representative of the NOMS. 349 Cyprus, Law on the prevention and combating of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, Art. 36 (2); Law revising the legal framework regulating the prevention, combating of trafficking and exploitation of persons and protection of victims, Art. 32 (2).