The Approach of Serbia to Substantial Criminal Law Issues from the Istanbul Convention – The Good and the Bad

Abstract

Serbia signed the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) in April 2012 and ratified it in November 2013. After its entry into force on August 2014, through the enactment of various legal acts, national plans, strategies and other measures, the legislator aimed to ensure the implementation of the Convention’s provisions in various areas. In particular the adjustments in substantial criminal law have gained momentum. Here, one of the two most important instruments to be mentioned is the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence from 2016. Furthermore, the Criminal Code was amended and now entails the newly established criminalisation of stalking, forced marriage, sexual harassment, and female genital mutilation. However, the recent and first GREVIO Baseline Evaluation Report on Serbia from January 2020 underlines various issues that are opposed to or do not fully comply with the provisions of the Convention. This paper presents and analyses the legislative changes that have been introduced in the field of Serbian criminal law by the Istanbul Convention so far, with a focus on the GREVIO Report and certain criminal offences. The results of the analysis will be put in the broader context of the dynamics and development of criminal policy in Serbia, showing whether the protection of women’s rights can be regarded as an autonomous and well-planned field of actions therein.