Structure of the report The report is structured in three parts. Firstly, a number of torture victims give their perspective – through individual stories – of the importance of psychosocial support and the impact legal proceedings had on them . The second part of the report considers the point of view of the professionals working with torture victims in rehabilitation centres. It outlines the positive and negative impact of the experience of being involved in legal proceedings and the resulting impact on the rehabilitation process. Through these two perspectives, the report highlights the particular challenges torture victims face when involved in legal proceedings. It also identifies their most common expectations and needs and gives best practice examples of the specialised support needed to enhance their experience and the success of the judicial process. The final section of the report outlines key recommendations to improve the measures that ensure torture victims can effectively participate in the pursuit of justice and ensure that the experience of participating in legal proceedings is not detrimental to their health and their rehabilitation process. In the context of this report, legal proceedings are considered to be any civil, criminal or administrative procedure where allegations of torture or ill-treatment are the focus and where the objective is to hold the perpetrator accountable and/ or to provide reparation to the victim. For this reason, the report excludes asylum proceedings although it is acknowledged that many of the challenges arising from a torture victim’s participation in asylum proceedings are similar to those seen in civil or criminal proceedings.9 The information in the report is obtained either directly from torture victims, through interviews, or from health professionals (doctors, psychologists or social workers) at the rehabilitation centres. The names and specific references to events referred to in the personal stories in Part 1 may have been changed to protect the identity of victims and their families. 12