“Setting up a system of support to victims is one of the most important tasks stemming from the Chapter 23 Action Plan“, Minister of Justice Nela Kuburović said at a conference about the support to victims in Serbia, which was held at the Metropol Hotel.

Kuburović noted that Chapter 23 Action Plan prescribed for the establishing of a country-wide network of services of support to victims, witnesses and affected persons in investigations and all phases of criminal proceedings, by way of conducting of a comprehensive analysis and the drafting and the implementation of a national strategy regulating the advancement of the rights of persons affected by and witnesses of criminal offences. She added that, owing to the support of international partners and the Ministry of Justice activities, important steps concerning the system of victim protection and support had already been taken.

Kuburović recalled that the Organisation of Courts Act stipulated that services for the provision of support and assistance to witnesses and persons affected could be organised in higher court administrations, while it also allowed for the High Judicial Council to define such services in other courts. Kuburović noted that the funds collected on the basis of non-initiated criminal prosecutions (opportunity) was one possibility of securing the means to finance services of support to victims, thus that the call for the awarding of opportunity funds, which the Ministry of Justice had advertised for the second year in a row, was one of the best examples of transparency in the work of the public administration and control over the public spending. “Through the division of the funds, it was possible to also provide assistance to organisations supporting victims, whether they were victims of domestic violence or trafficking in human beings. Consequently, the Centre for the Protection against Trafficking in Human Beings received over 3.5 million dinars in two years, while the Autonomous Women’s Centre received over one million dinars this year”, Kuburović noted.

The Justice Minister also mentioned that the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act - which was to come into effect on 1 June 2017 – tackled the definition of support to victims, by emphasising the protection and the status of victims. Referring to similar activities, she highlighted the Ministry’s Internet campaign Prevent Violence.

Kuburović stated that the existing network of accessible services to victims had improved significantly and that the passing of the amendments to the Criminal Code in November 2016 had led to the establishment of information services for victims and witnesses in all high public  prosecutor’s offices. “Concurrently, the Free Legal Aid Bill is being drafted, which defines a victim of a criminal offence as an user of the right to free legal aid ex lege“, Kuburović  said.

The Justice Minister added that focused efforts on the drafting of a strategic framework would commence in autumn through the IPA 2016 “Support to Victim and Witnesses of Criminal Offences”Project which was to support and establish a nation-wide network of support services to victims and witnesses.

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