This article is an integral part of the Coalition prEUgovor report on progress of Serbia in Chapters 23 and 24 for the period from May 2015 to October 2015.
There has been no improvement regarding protection of children. Autonomous Women’s Centre filed a Constitutional appeal [1] in the case of a criminal offence of illicit sexual activity with minor children by abuse of position because the suspect was exonerated by the final decision of the Court of Appeals in Belgrade, after 7 years of judicial proceedings. The practice of moving children into foster care without previously providing them with judicial protection continues. There is still no adequate audio-visual equipment in courts/prosecutor’s offices, and the situation regarding child support payments is becoming increasingly alarming.
In March 2013, in accordance with the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, [2] Serbia was given a year to resolve all cases of missing babies. Even though the deadline for the enforcement of the judgment expired in September 2014, the Republic of Serbia has taken a few concrete steps towards this end. Working group for the enforcement of the judgment was formed and this body met on several occasions, but measures such as the adoption of a lex specialis (as recommended in the judgment) were not taken yet. For this reason, hundreds of parents are still waiting for an answer to the question of what happened to their babies.
