In response to the announcement made by the Autonomous Women’s Centre, the Ministry of Justice would like to reiterate that 1 October 2019 marked the start of the application of the Free Legal Aid Act which recognises victims of domestic violence as a vulnerable group entitled to free legal aid and assistance irrespective of their property status.
With respect to the allocation of funds collected on the basis non-prosecution agreements (the so-called ‘opportunity funds’), the Ministry of Justice notes that the corresponding public calls thus far conducted have resulted in the allocation of 8,713,928 dinars in support of victims of crimes in Serbia, including victims of domestic violence. For instance, a project by the Autonomous Women’s Centre was one of the previously awarded projects.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice has drafted a new statutory framework which directly deals with the criminal-law protection of women who are victims of domestic violence. The framework comprises the Domestic Violence Prevention Act and four new criminal offences which have been in application since 1 June 2017. To that end, the Ministry of Justice held multiple workshops and seminars on the protection of women against domestic violence from March 2017 to October 2019, as well as training for judges, prosecutors and police officers, calling on the consistent application of all legislative solutions. During that same period, the Ministry of Justice was mentoring coordination and cooperation groups which had been formed in several basic prosecutor’s offices on the territory of the Republic of Serbia, in accordance with the Domestic Violence Prevention Act.
In addition, the Ministry of Justice has published three manuals as a combined response to all the questions collected during the workshops, giving recommendations for a unified way of conducting cases of domestic violence to ensure victims’ protection. Soon, the Government of the Republic of Serbia will adopt a new National Strategy on the Rights of Victims and Witnesses of Crime, which is to increase victims’ protection and improve victims’ position.
In light of the above, the Ministry of Justice would like to know whether the Autonomous Women’s Centre believes that the Ministry is only providing support to victims of domestic violence in Serbia if it finances the Centre’s projects. The Ministry of Justice would also like to know whether the Autonomous Women’s Centre not receiving opportunity funds this year meant that support to victims of domestic violence was lacking and that all other projects which have been awarded this year were less relevant.
The Ministry of Justice is very grateful to the Autonomous Women’s Centre for their exhaustive analysis of projects which have been awarded funds following this year’s public call, and invites them to participate in the next public call by submitting their projects.