The Minister of Justice Nikola Selaković met late yesterday with the Delegation of the Council of Europe, headed by the Deputy Director of political cooperation, Daniil Khochabo, discussing the progress of Serbia in the field of human rights.
Minister Selaković pointed in the meeting that Serbia is committed to negotiations for the EU membership, striving to establish the rule of law, particularly regarding improved respect for human and minority rights in the Republic of Serbia. Selaković emphasized that in the conclusion of the European Commission Screening Report on Chapter 23 it is stated “that a good legislative framework is broadly in place, but that further efforts are needed to ensure its full implementation”. Thereby, the Minister stated that Serbia will work in the coming period on special strategies and action plans, oriented toward stronger application of the current laws and regulations in this field.
During the meeting, Selaković said that the Criminal Code was amended in order to strengthen human rights - defamation was decriminalized and more strict sanctions for hate crime introduced. On the other hand, emphasized Selaković, Draft Law on Protection of Whistleblowers has been completed and will be submitted in no time to the Government for adoption. Furthermore, work on the final version of Draft Law on Protection of the Right to a Trial within Reasonable Time is under way, and its goal and objective is to enable to citizens efficient access to justice and to exercise their rights in an acceptable time limit.
Speaking about the status in Serbian prisons, Selaković said that it is much better compared to the situation in 2012. In that period, the accommodation capacities in Serbia's prison facilities totaled 7,500 places, while the number of convicts added up to 11,500; but today, prison capacities total 9,000 places and the number of convicts has dropped below 10,000 after a long time. He underscored that this is partly the result of construction of new facilities and reconstruction of existing prison capacities in the past two years, as well as wider implementation of alternative sanctions. Thus, the degree of respect of human rights has been raised to a higher level, concluded the Minister.
The representatives of the Council of Europe pointed to the fact that Serbia has made visible progress in the sectors of the judiciary and human rights, and expressed additional interest in the Draft Action Plan for negotiations concerning Chapter 23.