Commissioner for Protection of Equality Brankica Jankovic presented Regular Annual Report on the situation in the field of equality protection for 2018 to the MPs in the National Parliament of the Republic of Serbia.

The Commissioner presented data on the number of complaints in 2018, stating that there were 1407 cases processed, of which 947 complaints, 300 recommendations of measures for equality, 1 action before the court for protection against discrimination, 4 proposals to the Constitutional Court for assessment of constitutionality, 3 criminal charges and 1 misdemeanor, 17 warnings and 24 press releases. In 88 cases, reconciliation proceedings were proposed. Nine initiatives were introduced to amend the legislation, as well as 37 opinions on draft laws and other acts.

The Commissioner stated that 29 recommendations were given on the basis of complaints procedures and relevant information. Also, almost 800 trainings, conferences, debates, round tables and workshops were held in the past year.

After answering the parliamentary questions, Commissioner concluded that there are different challenges ahead of us that we as a society need to overcome. The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, as the competent state institution for the protection of the right to equality, which is the foundation of every democratic society and a condition for the exercise of all other human rights, continues its work on protection from discrimination against every individual and social group. We believe that a dedicated and strong national equality institution that does its job, despite the sensitivity of this issue and without calculations about who to protect, of course, with the support of the National Assembly, respect and cooperation is certainly the best path to equality for all citizens of our country.