The Government proposes an amendment to the Act of Domestic Violence.
The government has put forward a new bill for the amendment of legistlation to the Act of Domestic Violence, whereby alleged perpetrators of violence will be separated from their families prior to court proceedings.
The amendment envisages stricter penalties for perpetrators and an obligation to interview victims of domestic violence, as well as a catalogue of victims’ rights. The new bill comes in the light of recent deaths caused by domestic violence – in Krusevo and Karlovac – and Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic acknowledged that the problem of domestic violence was acknowledged very late.
“The fact that the system recognised domestic violence only in 1998 shows how much effort we still have to make and how much as a society we must work to teach children from the start that violence, especially domestic violence, is harmful. We have to raise standards in that regard and we will have to work on that for many years to come,” the minister warned.
