Ministry of Justice State Secretary Radomir Ilić has stated that the victims’ rights protection system was important and potentially crucial to the person who finds himself/herself a victim, since every victim of crime receiving support had a greater chance of continuing on with his or her life with significantly fewer long-term consequences. ‘According to the data, approximately 75 million people in the world become victims of crime every year. One of three women declares that she is sexually or physically abused. Around 5,200 murders and more than 1.3 million breaking and entering occurred in 2016. Millions of people were deceived, robbed or physically assaulted’, Mr Ilić said at the conference held for the presentation of the Draft Action Plan for the first three years of implementation of the National Strategy for the Exercise of the Rights of Victims and Witnesses of Crime.
The State Secretary stressed that those were just some of the data illustrating the significance of the victims’ rights protection system and that protection of the victims of crime was not only defined by Chapter 23 Action Plan but that it was, above all, an obligation of the State. ’It is an obligation of the State to provide a comprehensive system of support for each victim that meets the victim’s needs and helps the victim overcome or reduce the trauma of victimisation’, Mr Ilić stressed. He added that benefits of such approach could be felt not only by the system’s direct users but also by the society as a whole.
As he explained, this was the reason why the Ministry of Justice put forward the development of the Strategy for the Exercise of the Rights of Victims and Witnesses of Crime 2019–2025 as one of its priorities. He added that the OSCE Mission to Serbia and the European Union (EU) Delegation to Serbia had provided great support in the process through the Support for victims and witnesses of crime in Serbia Project.
Mr Ilić said that three basic goals were set in the Strategy Action Plan, namely the establishment of a national network of support services, the improvement of protection of victims and witnesses of crimes, and active efforts to raising awareness about the rights of victims and witnesses of crime.
‘All Action Plan activities are directed towards these goals and organised in a gradual and realistic manner which guarantees good preparation for the commencement of the work of the services and creates an opportunity for them to be fully operational from day one’, Mr Ilić emphasised. He added that the Serbian Government would form a Coordination Body for support to victims and witnesses of crime which would meet quarterly, and follow and analyse measures aimed at improving the position of the victims of crime, pass reports on the Strategy implementation and give recommendations for improvement.
Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Andrea Orizio said that promoting local governance over reform processes and their sustainability were key principles on which the OSCE Mission to Serbia based its work. ’The OSCE Mission to Serbia happily plays its advisory role in helping the host country strengthen effective mechanisms of protection of crime victims. In order to reduce the risk of repeated and secondary victimisation as well as the victims’ fear of retaliation and intimidation, the draft Action Plan Draft defines which specific activities are to be taken by which relevant actor’, Mr Orizio stated.
Representative of the EU Delegation to Serbia Ms Leonetta Pajer and Deputy Public Prosecutor Ms Zorica Stojšić also addressed the attendees at the conference.
The Strategy and the Action Plan development is part of a larger project of the Ministry of Justice - Support for the Victims and Witnesses of Crime in Serbia which is being implemented together with the OSCE Mission to Serbia and financed by the EU.