Serbia

Provides a listing of articles on restorative justice developments in Serbia. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.

Nikolic-Ristanovic, Vesna and Sanja Copic. The position of victims in Serbia: criminal procedure and possibilities of restorative justice.

In the paper, the authors deal with the victim’s position in the criminal procedure, on the one hand side, and the possibilities of implementing restorative justice and its importance for the improvement of victim’s position in Serbia, on the other one. In the first part of the paper, the authors point out victim’s position within the criminal procedure and the noticed gaps, which are particularly reflected in insufficient paying attention to the victim and neglecting of his/her rights and needs. This is opposite to the strengthening of the rights of the accused party that characterizes societies, which are, as our society, on the way of democratization and improvement of human rights. In the second part of the paper, the authors analyze some solutions that introduce elements of restorative justice into our system of criminal response to crime, but from the victim’s point of view. Finally, the authors also point out some further steps that should be undertaken in order to improve the victim’s position, particularly emphasizing the place and role of victim support service, witness service and special facilities in the courts for victims/witnesses, possibilities of using victim-offender mediation before reporting the crime, or staring the prosecution, or as a part of the treatment in the prison etc.

Liebmann, Marian. Restorative Justice Training in Serbia

According to Marian Liebmann, the youth justice system in Serbia has fallen into disrepair due to internal war and international sanctions. In view of this breakdown, UNICEF and the Swedish government are now collaborating to provide criminal justice assistance to Serbia through work being done by Liebmann. Here she reports on training she is implementing for Serbian criminal justice professionals in restorative justice and victim-offender mediation for three pilot projects: one in Nis; one in a juvenile correction institution in Krusevac; and one in Montenegro.

Milosavljevic, Slobodan. Conflict resolution at the Juvenile Correctional Institution in Krusevac, Serbia.

Conflicts between inmates at JCIK are frequent due to low level security; these can result in serious consequences including: serious damage to property, bodily injuries, self-harming, suicide attempts and suicide. Originally these acts resulted in disciplinary measures such as loosing privileges or being sent to ‘confinement’ rooms. Now such conflicts (where both parties agree) are dealt with using methods of resolution specifically tailored to JCIK. Due to the nature of the majority of the incidents at JCIK, and the fact that staff often find both parties are causing harm to one another, ‘mediation in conflicts’ is suggested as a more appropriate term. (excerpt)

Marinovic, Tijana and Ilic, Gorana and Vujacic-Richer, Dusica and Hrncic, Jasna. Promoting Good Practices of Victim Offender Mediation in Serbia: A Journey to Improving Quality Standards of Practices.

In may 2006 a New Code for Criminal Proceedings was adopted by the Serbian Parliament which would be enacted on the first of januari 2007. It would make provisions for a “settlement with the injured party” for adult offenders. Also, for the first time in Serbia, this would provide a legal basis for implementation of victim offender mediation for adult offenders. (excerpt)

Vujacic-Richer, Dusica and Marinovic, Tijana. Introduction of the Restorative justice concept and Victim-offender mediation practice in Serbia and Montenegro within the “Children’s Chance for Change” project – A juvenile justice reform initiative in Serbia and Montenegro.

UNICEF global efforts in the area of juvenile justice are directed towards the reduced incarceration of juveniles and the development of policies and practices that encourage the use of alternative measures to deprivation of liberty. Together with governmental and nongovernmental counterparts, UNICEF in Serbia and Montenegro promotes community rehabilitation as a safer and more effective approach to reintegrating the child into society than the prevailing retributive approach. For these reasons UNICEF strongly advocates restorative justice approach, diversion, and alternatives to custodial sentencing. UNICEF in Serbia and Montenegro has been supporting governmental efforts to reform juvenile justice system since 2001, when a thorough country-wide assessment of the juvenile justice was conducted by UNICEF. The findings of this assessment served as a basis for the project "Children's Chance for Change" that was developed in partnership with the Government’s of Serbia and Montenegro – (Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Policy, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Education and Sport) and the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). The overall objective of “Children’s Chance for Change” is to promote the comprehensive and multidisciplinary reform of the juvenile justice systems in Serbia and Montenegro aimed at improving protection of the rights of the children at risk and children in conflict with the law. (excerpt)

Copic, Sanja and Nikolic-Ristanovic, Vesna. The position of victims in Serbia: criminal procedure and possibilities of restorative justice.

In the paper, the authors deal with the victim’s position in the criminal procedure, on the one hand side, and the possibilities of implementing restorative justice and its importance for the improvement of victim’s position in Serbia, on the other one. In the first part of the paper, the authors point out victim’s position within the criminal procedure and the noticed gaps, which are particularly reflected in insufficient paying attention to the victim and neglecting of his/her rights and needs. This is opposite to the strengthening of the rights of the accused party that characterizes societies, which are, as our society, on the way of democratization and improvement of human rights. In the second part of the paper, the authors analyze some solutions that introduce elements of restorative justice into our system of criminal response to crime, but from the victim’s point of view. Finally, the authors also point out some further steps that should be undertaken in order to improve the victim’s position, particularly emphasizing the place and role of victim support service, witness service and special facilities in the courts for victims/witnesses, possibilities of using victim-offender mediation before reporting the crime, or staring the prosecution, or as a part of the treatment in the prison etc.

Liebmann, Marian. Introducing Restorative Justice in Serbia and Montenegro

In 2003, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) office in Belgrade realized that many of the children they worked with in their child protection programmes in Serbia and Montenegro were also in trouble with the law.