Police prohibits abusers from returning/approaching by way of an order

The solutions in the Pre-Bill on the Protection against Domestic Violence authorise the police to issue an order which will prohibit an abuser from returning to the household for 48 hours or approaching the victim for 48 hours, if the abuser does not live with the victim.

“Within the first 24 hours of issuance of the order, the public prosecutor’s office will be responsible to propose the court the extension of the measure. Within the following 24 hours, the court will have to decide on the matter”, stated the State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice – Radomir Ilic – when speaking at a public debate about the Pre-Bill on the Protection against Domestic Violence held in Valjevo.

“These are situations in which the abuser had committed a criminal offence which in itself is not for detention (there being no conditions for setting the standard detention), and when the police arrives to the scene and determines that there is risk of violence happening, i.e. escalating” stated Ilic.

There is no right of appeal on the police order of prohibition of return to apartment or approach within 48 hours – indicated the State Secretary, who further pointed out  that the public prosecutor’s offices ought to immediately react and request an extension of measures from the litigation court. As he explained – that court would extend the measure to 30 days, with the procedure subsequently taking its own course.

Ilic stressed that, in this case, it was possible to conduct both criminal and litigation proceedings against the same person, because “the spirit of the statute we have signed orders it”.

The situation as per the new legislative solutions is becoming rather unfavourable for the abuser, one which – he added – could have been even more unfavourable.

Nonetheless, he stated that the working group drafting the Bill was also trying to protect the human rights of the criminal offence perpetrators and not to permit any rights misuse and abuse.

In parallel with this statute, the Ministry of Justice has been working on the Amendments to the Criminal Code to introduce new criminal offences – stalking and sexual harassment, stated the State Secretary. Additionally, the criminal offence of rape shall be redefined and attempts will be made to determine the extent to which the term “domestic violence” in Criminal Code could be widened.

Ilic noted that the Pre- Bill on the Protection against Domestic Violence included coordination in the work of public authorities in accordance with the so-called “Zrenjanin model” which shall be incorporated into every basic public prosecutor’s office.

“In fight against violence, the most important thing is the coordination between public authorities. The [envisaged] coordinating body shall be chaired by a deputy public prosecutor dealing with domestic violence affairs, while its members will be representatives of the misdemeanour courts, the police, local hospitals, schools and social welfare centres", he stated.

Ilic explained that the Ministry of Justice was prepared to adopt the proposition to include NGOs working in the field of protection women against violence in the work of this coordinating body; the proposition having been made at yesterday’s public debate about the Pre-Bill in Novi Sad.

According to the future statute, the coordinating body would be tasked with developing a separate plan for victim’s protection, including one for other family members requiring help. It will also develop a plan to monitor and evaluate the efficiency of the planned and the undertaken measures.

The Pre-Bill also prescribes misdemeanour penalties for the non-conformance with the statute. For instance, any person in breach of an urgent measure or domestic violence protection measure prescribed by the Family Act shall be penalised by spending up to 60 days in prison, before the penalty-relevant decision is even final.