A/AC.291/L.15 Article 34. Assistance to and protection of victims [agreed ad referendum] 1. Each State Party shall take appropriate measures within its means to provide assistance and protection to victims of offences established in accordance with this Convention, in particular in cases of threat of retaliation or intimidation. 2. Each State Party shall, subject to its domestic law, establish appropriate procedures to provide access to compensation and restitution for victims of offences established in accordance with this Convention. 3. Each State Party shall, subject to its domestic law, enable views and concerns of victims to be presented and considered at appropriate stages of criminal proceedings against offenders in a manner not prejudicial to the rights of the defence. 4. With respect to the offences established in accordance with articles 14 to 16 of this Convention, each State Party shall, subject to its domestic law, take measures to provide assistance to victims of such offences, including for their physical and psychological recovery, in cooperation with relevant international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and other elements of civil society. 5. In applying the provisions of paragraphs 2 to 4 of this article, each State Party shall take into account the age, gender and the particular circumstances and needs of victims, including the particular circumstances and needs of children. 6. Each State Party shall, to the extent consistent with its domestic legal framework, take effective steps to ensure compliance with requests to remove or render inaccessible the content described in articles 14 and 16 of this Convention. Chapter V International cooperation Article 35. General principles of international cooperation 1. States Parties shall cooperate with each other in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, as well as other applicable international instruments on international cooperation in criminal matters, and domestic laws, for the purpose of: (a) The investigation and prosecution of, and judicial proceedings in relation to, the criminal offences established in accordance with this Convention, including the freezing, seizure, confiscation and return of the proceeds from such offences; (b) The collecting, obtaining, preserving and sharing of evidence in electronic form of criminal offences established in accordance with this Convention; (c) The collecting, obtaining, preserving and sharing of evidence in electronic form of any serious crime, including serious crimes established in accordance with other applicable United Nations conventions and protocols in force at the time of the adoption of this Convention. 2. For the purpose of the collecting, obtaining, preserving and sharing of evidence in electronic form of offences as provided for in paragraph 1 (b) and (c) of this article, the relevant paragraphs of article 40, and articles 41 to 46 of this Convention s hall apply. 3. In matters of international cooperation, whenever dual criminality is considered a requirement, it shall be deemed fulfilled irrespective of whether the laws of the requested State Party place the offence within the same category of offence or denominate the offence by the same terminology as the requesting State Party, if the conduct underlying the offence for which assistance is sought is a criminal offence under the laws of both States Parties. V.24-14137 17/41