Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - The former Lower Saxony Minister of Justice Barbara Havliza will be the new victim protection officer for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The 64-year-old former judge in the state protection senate of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court takes over the position from the former Cologne Attorney General Elisabeth Auchter-Mainz. This was announced by the State Chancellery in Düsseldorf on Wednesday. Havliza will take office on March 1 for a five-year term.
In 2017, Auchter-Mainz was appointed the country's first victim protection officer. Among other things, she had looked after victims of the Love Parade disaster and families who had contacted her after the crash of a Germanwings plane in the French Alps.
Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) paid tribute to the commitment of the two women. "Victims of crime are in an exceptional situation. Often they have not only suffered physical but also mental injuries," he emphasized. "So that they don't feel left alone, it's important to offer them help, establish contacts and open doors." This is exactly what the victim protection officer and her team stand for.
Havliza is considered "extremely competent and fair," said NRW Minister of Justice Benjamin Limbach (Greens), explaining the lawyer's appointment. The married mother of two children made victim protection a focus of her work when she was Minister of Justice in Lower Saxony.
