On the occasion of the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, commemorated on 4 June, the Ministry of Justice notes that children, as the foundation of any country’s development and continued growth, must be the main topic of social discourse, whether it is about their education, health care and, especially, prevention of violence or any other type of discrimination.
Precisely three years ago, the application of the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act began, which significantly strengthened the normative framework on combatting domestic violence. The enactment of this Act is also significant in terms of child protection because family protection involves children who are very often, directly or indirectly, exposed to violence. This Act prescribes a mandatory inter-sectorial cooperation for a set of criminal offences in most cases affecting children, which offers additional protection to children as the most vulnerable group of victims.
From the start of the Act’s application until April 2020, over 140,000 cases of domestic violence were reviewed, over 50,000 urgent measures pronounced, and over 42,000 individual protection plans prepared. Since September 2018, a record has also been kept on the number of extended urgent measures for the protection of minors, according to which 1,715 children were identified as victims of domestic violence by the competent authorities or as being in an immediate danger of domestic violence.
The Ministry of Justice expects that the new National Strategy on the Rights of Victims and Witnesses of Crime in the Republic of Serbia 2019−2025 and the accompanying Action Plan for its implementation would be adopted soon. This Strategy recognises children as a particularly vulnerable group and prescribes a set of measures directed at improving the position of children victims and witnesses of crimes.
The Free Legal Aid Act – the application of which began on 1 October 2019 − defines children as a particularly vulnerable group of the population which is entitled to free legal aid. According to this Act, children may exercise their right to free legal aid without having to submit any documentation for any proceedings which involves them.