No. 011-00-22/2025-02 Date: 30.05.2025.

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

Nenad Vujić, Minister

11000 Belgrade

Nemanjina 22-26

Dear Mr. Vujić,

Congratulations on your appointment as Minister in the new Government. Considering that a new Government was formed in April of this year, the Commissioner takes this opportunity to remind you of the obligations arising from the Law on Amending and Supplementing the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, as well as the initiatives for amending and supplementing laws within the competence of the Ministry of Justice, which have previously been submitted to this Ministry.

The Law on Amending and Supplementing the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination[1] introduced new Articles 40a and 40b, which relate to the record-keeping on protection against discrimination, i.e., the submission of court judgments and decisions concerning discrimination and the violation of the principle of equality.

The aforementioned amendments stipulate that the method of keeping court records for judgments and decisions referred to in Article 40b, paragraph 1, and the manner of their submission to the Commissioner, shall be prescribed by the minister responsible for justice, while Article 27 of the Draft Law prescribes that this bylaw shall be adopted within six months from the date of entry into force of the Law on Amending and Supplementing the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination. We have pointed this out in our previous letters no. 011-00-38/2021-02 dated 24.11.2021, no. 021-01-01364/2022-02 dated 15.12.2022, letter no. 011-00-26/2023 dated 18.9.2023, as well as letter no. 011-00-14/2024-02 dated 15.05.2024.

The Commissioner is obliged to keep a record of submitted anonymized final and binding judgments and decisions rendered in connection with discrimination and violation of the principle of equality (in addition to cases arising from the Commissioner’s own work). Considering that the deadline for adopting the bylaw in this regard expired in 2021, we kindly ask you to inform us about the current stage of drafting the mentioned bylaw. Also, once again, we take this opportunity to inform you that we remain at your disposal on this matter, with the aim of adopting a bylaw that will ensure the full implementation of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination regarding the keeping of records prescribed by law. If this document is in the process of being prepared, we kindly ask you to send it to us for review, given the importance of considering all aspects of fulfilling these legal obligations.

Additionally, over the years, the Commissioner has submitted several substantiated initiatives concerning the amendment and/or supplementation of multiple provisions of the Criminal Code. At the end of October 2024, during the process of amending and supplementing the Criminal Code, the Commissioner also submitted an opinion on the proposed amendments and supplements to this law. However, as noted in the Regular Annual Report on the Work of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality for 2024, the competent ministry has not adopted any of the initiatives for amendments and supplements to the Criminal Code that this body submitted over the years, pointing out the necessity of harmonizing the law with ratified conventions as well as with anti-discrimination regulations. In the meantime, the Commissioner was informed by an electronic letter received from the Ministry of Justice on December 6, 2024, that the amendments and additions to the Criminal Code are underway and that the upcoming amendments will include the best legal solution either by introducing a new criminal offense of Unauthorized Sharing and Abuse of Recordings with Intimate Content or by expanding the actions constituting an offense under some existing criminal offenses, in accordance with the relevant initiative of the Commissioner. Having this in mind, the Commissioner also reminds of the necessity to amend the Criminal Code and align it with Directive (2012)29/EU concerning the definition of a victim, as well as with the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating violence against women and domestic violence (2022/0066(COD) PE-CONS 33/24), and that amendments to Articles 120, 178, 179, 250, and amendments to Chapter 14 of the Criminal Code should also be considered as proposed in the latest initiative of the Commissioner submitted during 2024 (initiative no. 011-00-12/2024-02, dated 14.05.2024).

Another important amendment was proposed by the Commissioner in the Initiative for amending and supplementing Article 181 of the Law on the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions. The latest submitted initiative for amending this law was sent to the Ministry of Justice in May 2024 (number 011-00-13/2024-02, dated 14.05.2024). Namely, the provision of Article 181, paragraph 1 of the Law on the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions stipulates that in cases when a person convicted of criminal offences against life and bodily integrity, criminal offences against sexual freedom or criminal offences against marriage and family is released from serving a prison sentence, that is, conditionally released, or in the event of escape from prison, the institution shall notify the victim of the criminal offense. Paragraph 2 stipulates that the notification from paragraph 1 of this article shall be sent to the victim if they have requested it, and if the institution’s risk assessment indicates the need for preventive protection of the victim. Through this initiative, the Commissioner proposed an amendment to Article 181 of the Law on the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions, namely,  to consider introducing an obligation for competent authorities, ex officio, in cases of gender-based and domestic violence—as defined in the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence—to notify the victim about the release or escape of the convicted person from prison regardless of the risk assessment by the institution in the specific case, as currently stated in paragraph 2 of this article.

Attached to this letter, we are sending you copies of the mentioned initiatives for amendments and supplements to the Criminal Code and the amendment of Article 181 of the Law on the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions.

[1] Law on Amending and Supplementing the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination “Official Gazette of RS”, No.52/21)

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković