In 2016, the Ministry of Justice dedicated most of its efforts to the improvement and the strengthening of the legislature, primarily dealing with fight against domestic violence and organised crime and corruption. Moreover, important results were achieved in the field of strengthening of the judicial infrastructure. The highlight of the Ministry’s efforts was the opening of Negotiation Chapter 23 in July this year.

At the end of November 2016, the National Assembly adopted new and improved existing statutes which had been drafted by the Ministry of Justice. A set of statutes aimed at promoting fight against corruption, organised crime and terrorism was adopted: the new Organisation and Competences of State Organs in Fighting Organised Crime, Terrorism and Corruption Act, the Property Confiscation Act and the Amendment to the Criminal Code which introduced 7 new criminal offences against the economy.

In addition, the Domestic Violence Protection Act was adopted, primarily playing a preventative role in the fight against domestic violence. On the other hand, it introduced a series of new measures which above all strengthen the coordination between the competent state bodies. In parallel, amendments to the Criminal Code were adopted, effectively harmonising the domestic legislature with the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention. The amendments concerned the introduction of 4 new criminal offences in the field of fight against violence against women: stalking, sexual harassment, forced marriage and genital mutilation. With these statutes, the Ministry of Justice initiated the “Eliminate Violence” campaign aimed at raising awareness about the importance of recognising and adequately responding to forms of domestic violence.

Aside the newly adopted legislation, it should be stressed that two extremely important systematic statutes begun being applied in 2016. These were the Protection of the Right to a Trial within a Reasonable Time Act and the new Execution and Security Act, the application of which contributed to over 900,000 of old execution court cases being finalised this year.

Around mid-February, the new building of the Misdemeanour Court in Raska was opened, which was the first court building the Republic of Serbia had built from the foundation up in 20 years. The full reconstruction and the refurbishment of judicial organs in the Kataniceva Street in Belgrade, spanning over 16,000 square meters, was completed. In December, the renovation works on the facilities of the Basic and the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Offices in Sombor were completed, while the construction of new court buildings in Uzice and Pozarevac and of the new prison facilities in Pancevo begun.

In March, the first Call for the Awarding of Funds Collected from Uninitiated Criminal Prosecutions (Opportunity) was advertised. Over 2.8 million euros were allocated to 67 projects, amongst which the majority concerned schools, social welfare centres, primary health-care centres, hospitals, homes for the elderly and gerontology centres. Others included the Centre for the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking, the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monument, Association of Parents – Custodians, Children and Friends of Children with Malignant Diseases, the Belgrade Flower Festival, Educational-Correctional Centre Krusevac, etc.

Finally, the middle of July brought by the opening of the Negotiation Chapter 23, which is the most important chapter in the European integration process as its opening represented the official commencement of the negotiations, while its closure will represent the end of the negotiations.