Prosecution ex officio or following a complaint by the victim? An analysis on offences related to violence against women and sexual offences

In recent years, there has been a tendency in cases of violence against women and sexual offences to prosecute them, regardless of whether the victim files their complaint. This article investigates the recent changes in European criminal law in this respect. The results indicate a variety of approaches under European Union (EU) law, Council of Europe (CoE) law and domestic approaches. Furthermore, existing EU and CoE law has not suggested an 'in-between' approach, which exists in some national legal systems such as that of Germany. On that basis, this article suggests a number of amendments to current EU and CoE law.