The protection of victims of crimes is as much a duty of the state as it is of the society. For
that reason, the drafting of the National Strategy for the Exercise of the Rights of Victims and
Witnesses of Crime has been set as a priority which the Ministry took on responsibly,
efficiently and with commitment”, State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice Radomir Ilić
stated at a conference held today at Klub Poslanika on the occasion of the European Day for
Victims of Crime where the said Strategy draft was being presented.

State Secretary Ilić said that, according to the European Commission data for 2017, 15% or
75 million of people living in the European Union had been victims of a crime. He noted that
the duty of a state was to give adequate support to those who were misfortunate to become
victims of crime which would allow them to overcome or at least reduce the trauma of
victimisation.

The State Secretary also said that Chapter 23 Action Plan identified the establishment of a
system of support to victims and witnesses of crime as one of the most important tasks.
“Considering that this area requires a unique access to judicial institutions, and many other
state organs and civil society organisations with which victims come into contact, the need to
set-up a coordinated system of support has been recognised, where on the one hand, victims
would have access to equal, available and quality support services, and on the other hand,
optimal usage of the existing human and financial resources would be secured”, Ilić
explained.

As for the Ministry’s efforts in drafting the Strategy, State Secretary Ilić said that the process
was two-phased. “With international partners’ project support, a high number of analyses of
the harmonisation of Serbia’s normative framework with the acquis were conducted, showing
the present state of matters in Serbia“, Ilić noted. Following those analyses - he added - a
working group was formed to draft the Strategy, which involved every institution with
purview - the Republic Prosecutor’s Office, the Supreme Court of Cassation, the State
Prosecutorial Council, the High Judicial Council, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of
Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Matters -, including the NGOs YUCOM, Astra and
the Serbian Association for Criminal Law and Practice.

State Secretary Ilić stressed that the most demanding step in implementing the Strategy was
establishing a network of victims and witness support services on the territory of the Republic
of Serbia. “The implementation of this Strategy will allow for precise data on the number and
the structure of support service providers to be collected and monitored, which will further
ensure more accurate budgeting of the funds necessary for the system to run efficiently“, Ilić
explained. He also commented that there will be standard operating procedures for individual
assessments of victims’ needs, referrals to support services, and for giving support, including
that special attention would be paid to training in cooperation with the Judicial Academy.

Discussing the implementation of the measures mentioned, the State Secretary pointed out
that special efforts would go towards harmonisation with the European standards, all the
while preserving and improving the existing solutions in certain segments of victim’s position
in the Republic of Serbia.

The Strategy presentation is a part of a larger Ministry project “Support to Victims and
Witnesses of Crime in Serbia” which is being implemented in cooperation with the OSCE
Mission to Serbia, with the help of the EU funding.