Contribution to the Serbia 2024 Annual Report
The Network of Organizations for Children of Serbia (MODS)
The progress achieved in the field of child rights and the state of vulnerable children
Overview of the legal framework on governing children’s rights
The legislative framework regarding children’s rights in the Republic of Serbia is facing a significant setback due to the slow progress in adopting and amending relevant laws. It’s crucial to take prompt measures to expedite the procedures for passing and amending laws that are of fundamental importance for safeguarding the rights of the child.
- Law on the Rights of the Child and the Ombudsman for Children remains pending: In 2023 there has been no progress on the draft Law on the Rights of the Child and the Ombudsman for Children since the public hearing that took place in 2019, as proposed by the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs.
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It is crucial to adopt this law promptly to ensure that children receive the necessary care and attention they deserve. This law would enable the harmonization of national law with ratified international treaties and align with various laws that partially govern child rights. Therefore, it is highly recommended to take swift action to ensure the prompt adoption of this law. |
- Family Law: In 2023, there was no progress made in amending the Family Law in Serbia. The Working Group for Amendments to the Family Law, chaired by the Ministry of Family Care and Demography, was established in the previous mandate of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. The work plan of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the year 2023 foresaw the proposal of the law on amendments and additions to the Family Law for June 2023, but that plan was not implemented.
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It is highly recommended for the Government of the Republic of Serbia to prioritize the adoption of the proposed amendments and additions to the Family Law. The law should define the term “child,” prohibit physical punishment of children, and ban child marriages by removing the exceptions that allow marriage under the age of 18. This will ensure the protection of children’s rights, prevent violence, and promote healthy family relationships. |
- Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on communication procedures: There was no progress in 2023 – Serbia signed the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on communication procedures, but this Protocol has not yet been ratified. The draft law on the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on communication procedures was in the Government’s Work Plan for December 2023, but was not implemented.
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Ratifying the protocol would demonstrate the country’s commitment to protecting and promoting the rights of children. The communication procedures laid out in the protocol would also provide children with a mechanism to submit complaints to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. This would help in ensuring that children’s rights are respected and upheld. Therefore, it is important that the draft law on the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child be implemented as soon as possible. |
- Law on Social Protection – There has been no progress in this area. Since 2019, when the public debate on the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Social Protection was held, there has been no progress in improving this regulation, which is important for ensuring rights and providing services to user groups of the social protection system, which include children.
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To ensure that every citizen in Serbia has access to the social security they are entitled to, it is imperative that amendments are made to the Law on Social Protection. Serbia has a responsibility to ensure that its citizens have access to social security that is sufficient in both amount and duration. This includes support for family protection and assistance, an adequate standard of living, and access to healthcare. |
- The Law on the Protection of Persons with Mental Health Disabilities – The Ministry of Health on July 26, 2023 proposed Amendments to the Law on the Protection of Persons with Mental Health Disabilities (Official Gazette RS” no. 45/13) – The proposed changes referred primarily and almost exclusively to minors below the threshold of criminal responsibility, that is, children under 14 years of age. These changes did not improve the protection of persons, including children and young people, with mental health problems, they introduced measures of a high degree of institutionalization, isolation and forced imprisonment of juvenile offenders, which sought to resolve the issue of the status of juvenile offenders below the criminal limit responsibilities within the mental health care system. Relevant actors, including the Ombudsman[1] of the Republic of Serbia assessed that the proposed changes ignore many aspects of exercising children’s rights, dehumanize and ostracize these children from society, and that the changes did not no potentially effective measures of prevention, improvement of early identification of children at risk and referral to adequate interventions are foreseen. After the reaction of the professional public, civil society organizations and the international community, and despite the proposal to extend or re-open the public hearing in an adequately long time frame, at this moment there is no information about what stage the Draft is in, nor what are the further plans of the state for this question. A group of organizations filed a complaint with the United Nations Special Procedures for the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest possible standard of physical and mental health, in order to put pressure on the state not to pass a harmful law that could endanger the position of all persons with mental health problems, and with the aim of solving the individual case that is not the subject of this Law. Special Procedures published a thorough report[2] in early 2024, to which the state responded in February 2024. The state’s response did not provide an adequate argumentation or explanation of the proposed changes, as well as further steps regarding the mentioned changes.
Read the full document here.
MODS organizations involved in drafting this report: Group for Children and Youth “Indigo”, WESTERN BALKANS INSTITUTE WEBIN – TUTORING PROGRAM, “NEXUS-Vranje”, Association of professionals for children and family support “FICE Serbia”, Association for Helping Children with Special Needs “Naši snovi“, “KOKORO”- Bor, SOS Children’s Villages Serbia, Center for Missing and Exploited Children (CNZD), PIN (Psychosocial Innovation Network), Friends of Children of Serbia, The Child Rights Centre, The Center for Youth Integration (CYI), Association “Parent” Sremska Mitrovica, Sveda Support Center.
[1] https://www.ombudsman.rs/index.php/2011-12-11-11-34-45/7855-ishlj-nj-z-sh-i- ni-gr-d-n-n-d-pun-z-n-z-sh-i-i-lic-s-n-lni-s-nj
[2] https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=28696