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REPORT NUMBER 2 ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR PROSECUTION OF WAR CRIMES

Introductory note:

On February 20th 2016, the Government of the Republic of Serbia has adopted the National Strategy for Prosecution of War Crimes (hereinafter: “The National Strategy”). The National Strategy has been published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia on March 2nd 2016 under the number 19/2016.

In order of monitoring of the National Strategy, on August 26th 2017 by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Working body for Monitoring of the implementation of the National Strategy was established. The members of the Working body are representatives of all institutions relevant for the implementation of The National Strategy.

The second report on implementation of the National Strategy is related to the period starting from 1st December 2017 until 31st March 2018.

REPORT

Objective 1: The Office of War Crimes Prosecutor shall adopt and implement Prosecutorial Strategy for Investigation and Prosecution of War Crimes (hereinafter: Prosecutorial strategy) in accordance with the objectives and time limits provided for in the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes and the Action Plan for Chapter 23.

Activities :

The Office of War Crimes Prosecutor will draft and adopt the Prosecutorial Strategy for the Investigation and Prosecution of War Crimes in the Republic of Serbia, taking into consideration the Completion Strategy of the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia and the Draft National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes, through a transparent and consultative process with all relevant stakeholders.

The Prosecutorial Strategy should define the criteria for the selection of war crimes cases and compiling a list of priority and major war crimes cases that should be prosecuted to fulfil the obligation that all priority and important cases are prosecuted.

Time limit: Quarter 1 of 2016

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Activity is partially implemented.

Update, March 2018:

In line with the preconditions and principles envisaged by the Action Plan for Chapter 23, the OWCP prepared a draft version of its Prosecutorial Strategy for War Crimes Investigation and Processing 2018 – 2023, bearing in mind the ICTY completion strategy and the Republic’s National War Crimes Prosecution Strategy 2016 – 2020.

The draft version of the Prosecutorial Strategy for War Crimes Investigation and Processing 2018 – 2023 was presented at an expert meeting held on 12 March 2018. The meeting was attended by the following: judges, prosecutors and lawyers; officers of the War Crimes Identification Service, Protection Unit, Military Security Agency and Security Intelligence Agency; representatives of the Serbian Government, namely of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry for European Integration, Commission on Missing Persons and Office for Human and Minority Rights; representatives of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Humanitarian Law Centre, Judicial Academy and Belgrade Human Rights Centre. In the course of the subsequent 15 days, the meeting participants provided their written remarks on the draft Prosecution Strategy.

The Office of the MICT Prosecutor gave its full support to the working version of the Prosecutorial Strategy for War Crimes Investigation and Processing 2018 – 2023. In its comment on the draft Strategy, presented to the OWCP on 26 March 2018, the MICT Prosecutor confirmed his “full commitment to supporting the OWCP and the War Crimes Prosecutor in the fulfilment of the OWCP mandate to fight impunity for war crimes in Serbia.“

(The Prosecutorial Strategy for War Crimes Investigation and Processing 2018 – 2023 was adopted at the OWCP management board meeting of 04 April 2018 and it will be a part of the next report on implementation of the National Strategy for Prosecution of War Crimes having in mind that this report includes the period until 30th March 2018).

Initial report:

At its 200th session of 20 February 2016, pursuant to article 45 (1) of the Government Act (RS Official Gazette, nos. 55/05, 71/05 – Correction, 101/07, 65/08, 16/11, 68/12 – CC, 72/12, 7/14 – CC and 44/14) and further to the proposal submitted by the Legal System and Government Authorities Committee, the Republic of Serbia’s Government rendered the National War Crimes Prosecution Strategy, in its proposed version. The National War Crimes Prosecution Strategy was published in the RS Official Gazette, no. 19 of 02 March 2016.

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At its session of 15 May 2017, the Serbian National Assembly elected Ms. Snežana Stanojković as War Crimes Prosecutor. Following an oath before the National Assembly Speaker, the Prosecutor took office on 31 May 2017.

Pursuant to the Serbian Government’s Decision 05 no. 02-8006/2017 of 25 August 2017, a working body was assigned to monitor the National Strategy implementation. On 19 September 2017, the War Crimes Prosecutor was appointed as member of the working body.

The Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor (OWCP) initiated the implementation of the National War Crimes Prosecution Strategy, specifically of the parts pertaining to the OWCP obligations.

Currently under way are the analysis of the draft Prosecution Strategy and its harmonization with the applicable national legislation, as well as the determination of concrete activities, designation of persons responsible for such activities and assessment of material capacities for the realization of the same. All of the aforementioned processes are being carried out in line with the Action Plan for Chapter 23 and with the National War Crimes Prosecution Strategy.

Objective 2: The Office of War Crimes Prosecutor will have accurate records of the events that may be qualified as war crimes, and records on unresolved cases, to be used, on the basis of clearly defined criteria, for the prioritization of cases pending and development of a five year plan for case processing.

Activities: The War Crimes Investigation Service will prepare a database on mass crimes committed during the armed conflicts in former Yugoslavia, which will serve, together with the records on the prosecutor’s pending cases, as a means to set work priorities and develop a separate five-year plan of investigations and indictments.



Update, March 2018:.

The Service provided working material/records on individual and mass crimes committed during the armed conflicts in former Yugoslavia to the The War Crimes Prosecutor's Office, for the purpose of carrying out activities that are provided by the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes (Objective 2, subtitle: Increasing Efficiency of the War Crimes Proceedings before the Republic of Serbia Institutions – item 1.1. Investigations and Indictments). Those activities obligate the Service to prepare database on mass crimes which will serve, together with the

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records on the prosecutor’s pending cases, as means to set work priorities and develop a separate five-year plan of investigations and indictments.

Initial report:

Due to creation of a database on mass crimes committed during the armed conflicts in former Yugoslavia (The Republic of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo and Metohija) the War Crimes Investigation Service installed the Information Management Software Package of the Company "ZyLab", which is being used for systematization of documentation from all available sources on war crimes and for the creation of electronic database. The Information Management Software Package "ZyLab" was donated to the Ministry of Interior - Criminal Police Department - Service by the Department of Justice of the US Government through ICITAP. The training course for that computer program was provided to members of the Service by the OSCE Mission to the Republic of Serbia. The Service was also provided with ICITAP technical equipment (computers, servers, scanners) which was the precondition for working on the digitization of documentation. The Service is the only entity in the Republic of Serbia using this Information Management Software Package for archiving and automated search of documents of the Company "ZyLab" (except EULEX Mission to Kosovo and Metohija).

The Service also uses the program called "Geographic Information System (GIS)", which enables analytical processing of data and their visual display on the map of the former Yugoslavia, where the spots of crime are marked with dots, and through which the access to the documentation related to certain crimes is obtained.

In October 2016 the Decision on forming the Working Group for Compilation of Facts and Evidence of Crimes against Persons of the Serbian Nationality and Other National Communities in Kosovo and Metohija was made. The Group acts within the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. At one of the sessions of the Working Group, the Head of the Service, as its member, suggested that the systematizations of war crimes which were committed by the so-called “Kosovo Liberation Army” should be analytically unified in the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office. Those systematizations were created by the Military Intelligence Agency, the Security Intelligence Agency, the Military Security Agency and the Ministry of Interior. In order to implement that suggestion the Working Group formed the Analytical Team which is responsible for processing the subject documentation. One police officer of the Service participates in the Team work. So far, the Team has held several meetings.

In this regard the Service managed to systemize and process chronologically the documentation on war crimes which were committed by the members of the «Kosovo Liberation Army» in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija until 2000. The documentation was obtained in cooperation with Coordination Department for Kosovo and Metohija and regional police departments for

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Kosovo and Metohija, and submitted to the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office. The documentation was systemized and chronologically processed by zones of operation of the KLA (7 zones in total), and consists of the operational information, criminal complaints, statements of the potential witnesses and other evidence. All documentation with the available documents of the other state authorities (the Military Security Agency, the Security Information Agency, the Military Intelligence Agency, the Commission on Missing Persons of the Republic of Serbia) will be submitted to the Special Court for War Crimes in Kosovo and Metohija, through the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office, after the analytical processing is performed.

The Office of War Crimes Prosecutor shall endeavor to register and take over all the war crimes cases still pending before the domestic courts of general jurisdiction. The Republic Public Prosecutor will monitor and enable the transfer of cases from the prosecutors’ offices of general jurisdiction.



Update, March 2018:

The Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor continued to take over cases originally addressed by the prosecution services of general jurisdiction throughout Serbia, which cases, in terms of the criminal offences involved, fall within the OWCP scope of competence.

From the previous report up to 16 April 2018, a total of 952 cases were taken over from the Offices of the Priština, Peć and Prizren Public Prosecutors and duly filed in the OWCP registers.

By 16 April 2018, following the referral of a number of cases to courts of general jurisdiction, a total of 810 cases had remained for the processing by the OWCP (KTN register – reports against FNU LNU perpetrators).

From February 2016 to 16 April 2018, in line with the National War Crimes Prosecution Strategy, the OWCP took over 1578 cases from general public prosecutions.

Initial report:

The Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor continued to take over cases originally addressed by the prosecution services of general jurisdiction throughout Serbia, which cases, in terms of the criminal offences involved, fall within the OWCP scope of competence. As many as 768 such

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cases have been taken over since February 2016. All of those cases have been duly entered into relevant registers and assigned to individual officers for further processing.

Objective 3: The Office of War Crimes Prosecutor applies the measures to increase its working efficiency.

Activities:

With the aim of increasing working efficiency, the War Crimes Prosecutor should undertake the following activities:

- Use the existing capacity in line with the above stated prosecution priorities to be defined in the prosecutorial strategy;

- Apply, whenever appropriate, the legal institution of plea agreement referred to in Articles 313-320 of the Criminal Procedure Code;

- Ensure full confidentiality of the investigation process; - Examine during the investigation whether the suspect holds any assets acquired

through war crime and if yes, to submit to the court the relevant procedural request in that regard pursuant to the Law on Criminal Asset Recovery.1

Time limit: Continuously.

Activity is being successfully implemented.

Update, March 2018:

In the course of the reporting period, the OWCP did not apply the legal concept envisaged by articles 313 – 320 of the Criminal Procedure Code, namely the guilty plea agreement. In its future work, the OWCP will try to resort to this concept wherever there are legal grounds for its application, and where the conclusion of such an agreement appears appropriate in terms of resolving a criminal case.

In compliance with the Act on Personal Data Protection, the OWCP has taken measures for the protection of data against unauthorized access, publishing or any other abuse.

All members of the OWCP staff have signed the statement on the preservation of secret and confidential data within the meaning of the Data Secrecy Act and other legal / by-legal documents. A binding instruction on the protection and preservation of secret / confidential information, which is included in this statement, has been handed in to all employees. The instruction includes the overview of the applicable substantive regulations concerning the 1 Law on Criminal Asset Recovery (RS Official Gazette, No. 32/2013)

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handling of secret / confidential data, obligation of the protection / preservation of such data, and the list of the criminal law provisions concerning the conduct of elected, appointed and employed staff members in contravention of their legally prescribed obligations.

In order to secure consistent compliance with the obligation of confidence on the part of each OWCP staff member, the War Crimes Prosecutor and First Deputy Prosecutor closely supervise the implementation of the laws and by-laws relevant to this area.

In the course of the reporting period, no legal conditions were met for launching financial investigations, i.e. for permanent or temporary seizure of crime proceeds in cases within the OWCP competence.

Initial report:

Right at the beginning of her mandate, the War Crimes Prosecutor made the allocation of cases in accordance with the existing OWCP capacities and with a view to improving the overall performance of her Office. In the framework of general efforts towards raising the OWCP operational effectiveness, the archives of the Committee for the Collection of Evidence about Crimes against Humanity and International Law, originally situated in the building of the one-time Federal Executive Council (SIV), have been moved to the OWCP seat. Currently under way is the classification of cases based on the territorial principle (Croatia, BH and KM).

The transfer and subsequent classification of the archive materials have already yielded remarkable results, especially in terms of regional cooperation. In response to the BH Prosecutor’s request for assistance, the OWCP identified relevant documentation in the Committee’s archives. The documentation was duly sent to the BH Prosecutor’s Office and subsequently used as evidence in a case handled by the same.

In the course of the reporting period, the OWCP did not apply the legal concept envisaged by articles 313 – 320 of the Criminal Procedure Code, namely guilty plea agreement . The War Crimes Prosecutor’s position – which will be more closely defined within the Prosecution Strategy – is that in its future work, the OWCP will try to resort to this concept whenever there are legal grounds for its application, with a view to raising the effectiveness and economy of criminal proceedings. The OWCP will initiate a request for permanent or temporary seizure of proceeds associated with the commission of crimes against humanity and other assets protected by international law, in any of the situations prescribed by article 2 of the Act on the Seizure of Crime Proceeds. Objective 4: Enhanced capacity of the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor. Activities:

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The number of deputy prosecutors and other staff of the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor will increase in line with the time frame envisaged in the Action Plan for Chapter 23, as well as in accordance with the recommendations on the required experience in international criminal law of future employees.



Update, March 2018:

At its session of 22 March 2018, the Serbian National Assembly elected Mr. Svetislav Rabrenović as Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor. Having taken his solemn oath before the National Assembly Speaker on 12 April 2018, Mr. Rabrenović took up office as Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor at the OWCP management board’s solemn session of 16 April 2018.

Further to the State Prosecutorial Council’s advertisment published on 22 March 2017, the election of additional two deputy war crimes prosecutors is under way.

Initial report:

At its session of 15 May 2017, the Serbian National Assembly elected Ms. Snežana Stanojković as War Crimes Prosecutor. Following an oath before the National Assembly Speaker, the Prosecutor took office on 31 May 2017.

On 22 September 2017, the State Prosecutorial Council advertised two vacancies for Deputy War Crimes Prosecutors. A previous advertisement for these two positions had been annulled pursuant to the Constitutional Court’s decision. Including an additional vacancy advertised on 08 April 2016, the election procedure for three Deputy War Crimes Prosecutors is now under way. Continuing training on international humanitarian, international criminal law and investigative techniques will be provided to the present and newly employed / newly appointed staff and deputy public prosecutors in the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor as envisaged in the Action Plan for Chapter 23, as well as appropriate training relating to the approach to victims and witnesses to avoid the risk of secondary victimization. Special attention will also be devoted to the organization of training in the field of strategic planning, information technologies and project management, enabling the streamlining of internal processes and use of resources, and improving the planning process and obtaining project support.

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Time limit: Continuously


Update, March 2018:

Members of the Support and Information Service (SIS) regularly participate in national and international expert meetings / training programmes on providing information and support to victims and witnesses.

In the framework of the WINPRO III project, the SIS members took part in the training programme Advanced Witness Evaluation Training (Sarajevo, 29 January – 02 February 2018), in the seminar Completion Strategies (Podgorica, 13 – 15 March 2018), and in the Judicial Conference (Tirana, 21 March 2018).

Initial report:

All of the OWCP case administrators – Deputy Prosecutors and Assistant Prosecutors – took part in the designing of educational/training programs in the area of International Criminal Law, through the completion of the detailed questionnaires concerning the needs in this area, which were provided by the Judicial Academy and the Belgrade Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Pursuant to the Ruling on the Inception of the Service for Informing and Support of Witnesses and Victims (SIS), three OWCP staff members (a coordinator and two members) were assigned to the Service. During the reporting period, the SIS members attended training courses in the witness support area, organized by domestic and international institutions and organizations. The OWCP web page provides the relevant stakeholders and other visitors with timely updates on developments in this area, specifically relating to the SIS inception, its members and their contact details, information for victims/witnesses, as well as the relevant brochure issued by the Office of the Republic’s Public Prosecutor. The SIS keeps an electronic record of all victims contacted, as well as of all information/support services provided. In order to ensure the proper functioning of the Service, its members hold periodical meetings and submit quarterly reports about the War Crimes Prosecutor’s activities.

In line with its obligations envisaged by the National Strategy, the OWCP continued the implementation of activities towards the improvement of its cooperation with the Witness Protection Unit (WPU).

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Joint OWCP – WPU teams were established, and their representatives hold regular meetings. Such an operational methodology is expected to ensure that all of the three organs discharge their respective duties with optimal working effectiveness. Pursuant to the War Crimes Prosecutor’s decision, aimed at further improvement of cooperation between the OWCP and WPU, two contact persons – who are also members of the Victim/Witness Support Service – were assigned to maintain regular communication with victims and witnesses.

Objective 5: Improved status and efficiency of the War Crimes Investigation Service.

Activities:

The defining of specific measures to be undertaken for the purpose of improving the status and operations of the War Crimes Investigation Service requires that the Ministry of the Interior prepares an analysis (report) on the legal and factual situation and needs of the War Crimes Investigation Service within the Ministry of the Interior, aimed at determining the need for the Service reform. Special attention should be devoted to the following issues:

- status of the War Crimes Investigation Service within the organizational structure of the Ministry of Interior;

- if the hiring process should be reformed, considering the need to have competent and highly motivated professionals and staff assigned to the War Crimes Investigation Service, based on clear and transparent criteria, as well as potential influence of prior participation of a candidate in the conflicts that took place in the territory of former Yugoslavia;

- if incentives should be introduced for the purpose of attracting professional staff;

- if the War Crimes Investigation Service has a sufficient number of investigators and analysts and if it applies appropriate methodology;

- establishment of joint investigative teams and working procedures between the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor and the War Crimes Investigation Service.


Activity is fully implemented.

Update, March 2018:

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The War Crimes Prosecutor's Office formed joint investigation teams with members of the War Crime Investigation Service, having introduced a new methodology in the work. The joint teams hold regular meetings for the purpose of efficient operational treatment. The Prosecutor's Office established working procedures between the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office and the Service, which are necessary for the purpose of harmonizing activities during the procedure in each case.

Initial report:

Тhe Analysis (Report) of the Legal and Factual Situation and Needs of the Service was prepared and submitted to the Police Directorate and the Sector for International Cooperation, EU Affairs and Planning of the Ministry. Special attention was given to the following issues:

Status of the War Crimes Investigation Service within the organisational structure of the Ministry of Interior:

The War Crimes Investigation Service is a specialized sub-organizational unit dealing with the investigation of war crimes committed in the territory of the former SFRY, during the war in the period from 1991 to 1999. It conducts its activities in cooperation with other organizational units of the Ministry of Interior, the competent national authorities, as well as international institutions. The Service belongs to the Criminal Police Department - an organizational unit within the Police Directorate, of the Ministry of Interior, of the Republic of Serbia. In the previous period the proposal for separation of the Service from its organizational unit, the Criminal Police Department was made, due to the specific nature of its activities, with the idea to place it directly under the authority of the Police Directorate. However, many years of experience have shown that the Service can only successfully operate under the Criminal Police Department, through direct communication with other services/units of the Department, and direct engagement of additional number of police officers and material resources available to the Department. These advantages contribute to the coordination and effective operational activities. Therefore, the opinion that the Service should not be placed under the direct authority of the Police Directorate and should not be extracted from the organizational unit to which it belongs was supported by the Service, Department and the Ministry as well.

The Service performs its activities in cooperation with other organizational units within the Ministry, as well as with other state authorities of the Republic of Serbia: the Ministry of Justice, the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office, the Higher Court in Belgrade - the War Crimes Chamber, Court of Appeal in Belgrade - the War Crimes Chamber , the Service for Assistance and Support to Victims and Witnesses within the Higher Court in Belgrade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Military Intelligence Agency, the Security Information Agency, the Military Security Agency, and the Commission on Missing Persons of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

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International cooperation in general relates to the cooperation with the ICTY for the prosecution of persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991, and to the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) - the legal successor of the ICTY, through the Ministry of Justice.Through the Coordination Department for Kosovo and Metohija, the Service realizes the cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross and EULEX - Mission to Kosovo and Metohija. The cooperation between the Service and other international organizations takes place through the Cabinet of the Minister and the Sector for International Cooperation, EU Affairs and Planning of the Ministry.

The Service participates in the work of the following working bodies: The Working Group for Compilation of Facts and Evidence of Crimes against Persons of

Serbian Nationality and Other National Communities in Kosovo and Metohija, within the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia,

The Commission on Missing Persons of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, with the mandate to deal with issues of missing persons in the armed conflicts in the territory of former Yugoslavia,

The Working Group for Drafting War Crimes Prosecution Strategy 2016/2026, The Working Body for Monitoring the Implementation of the National War Crimes

Strategy.

As a representative of the Ministry the head of the Service is a member of all four working bodies.

The Service prepares its reports on activities envisaged by the Action Plan for Chapter 23 "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights", and participates in the preparation of documents related to war crimes area that the Republic of Serbia prepares upon requests of international organizations.

The Service consists of two divisions, each composed by two sections:1. The Division for Discovering Crimes against Humanity and International Law and Searching for Missing Persons which consist of the Section for Discovering Crimes against Humanity and International Law, and the Section for Searching for Missing Persons. Police officers of the Division are investigating war crimes and acting upon requests of the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office, related to following actions:

finding injured, conducting interviews with witnesses and victims, collecting evidence, deprivation of freedom of perpetrators, searching for missing persons in armed conflicts on the territory of former

Yugoslavia, including discovery of mass graves.

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2. The Division for Cooperation with The Hague Tribunal, Operational Analytics, Logistics and Documenting composed of the Section for Cooperation with The Hague Tribunal and the Section for Operational Analytics, Logistics and Documenting. Police officers of the Division take the following activities:

act upon request of the ICTY, take measures to protect witnesses and their families whose safety could be

endangered during and after testifying before the ICTY, provide conditions for testifying and providing technical assistance to witnesses, supervise persons who are temporarily released by the ICTY in accordance with the

guarantees of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, form a database of war crimes in physical and electronic form.

If the hiring process should be reformed, considering the need to have competent and highly motivated professionals and staff assigned to the War Crimes Investigation Service, based on clear and transparent criteria, as well as potential influence of prior participation of a candidate in the conflicts that took place in the territory of former Yugoslavia?

When it comes to hiring new police officers in the Service, the Regulations on Implementation of an Internal Selection of the Employees of the Ministry of Interior is being applied ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", no. 73/2016), that regulates the election procedure, the work of the Candidates Selection Committee, the manner of evaluation and ranking of candidates, and the Regulation on Competences of the Employees in the Ministry of Interior ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", no. 52/2016), both adopted on the basis of the Law on Police ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", no. 6/16 ). According to the above mentioned three candidates met all the criteria and conditions for admission to the Service.

With such an electoral procedure there is no possibility of working engagement in the Service for those candidates who were in any way in contact with persons, units and /or locations related to war crimes that were committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and for those candidates who do not meet criteria in terms of education, work experience required for the specific work position, knowledge and skills.

According to the current employment factual situation, none of the members of the Service were involved in the armed conflicts that happened in the former Yugoslavia (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Metohija).

If incentives should be introduced for the purpose of attracting professional staff? The standpoint of the Service is that new skilled staff and retaining the existing ones should be attracted by incentives, since there is a basis in the Law on the Organization and Jurisdiction of Government Authorities in War Crimes Procedure ("Official Gazette of RS", no. 67/2003,

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135/2004, 61/2005, 101/2007 and 104/2009). It should also be noted that over 50 % out of the total number of the Service members spent more than 10 years working in the police (in the range of over 10 to 25 years), and about 6 % out of all members of the Service spent more than 25 years working in the police. Police officers possess the necessary knowledge and skills needed for discovering crimes against humanity and international law and solving missing person’s cases, and operational analytics. The working skills are acquired during many years in performing police activities, as well as through the regular and periodic training courses and assessment tests that are conducted at the level of the Ministry of Interior, in accordance with the Professional Development Program of the police officers, and through the specific training courses that were being conducted in cooperation with other international organizations and agencies.

If the War Crimes Investigation Service has a sufficient number of investigators and analysts and if it applies appropriate methodology? The organization, number of employees, job titles and job descriptions in the Service are regulated by the By-law on Internal Organization and Job Classification in the Ministry of Interior, which are determined by the Minister, in accordance with the Law on Police. The service has a satisfactory number of employees who conduct investigations, as well as operational analytical tasks. Depending on the financial capacity of the Ministry, there is a possibility of increasing the number of job positions in the Service with the new By-law on Internal Organization and Job Classification in the Ministry of Interior.

In order to create a new Regulations on the Internal Organization and Job Classification in the Ministry of Interior and acting upon request of the Criminal Police Department, the Service has provided the Department with its opinion on description of typical and individual job positions, as well as the titles of the individual job positions that should be included in the Catalogue of Job Positions. The Service has also provided the Department with job descriptions of the Service, its departments and divisions.

In accordance to the request of the Strategic Management and Development Department of the Sector for International Cooperation, EU affairs and Planning, the Service has prepared its annual work program for the purpose of making the Ministry's Work Program for 2018.The work of the Service encompasses the following legislative acts:

1. The Law on Organization and Jurisdiction of Government Authorities in War Crimes Proceedings ("Official Gazette", no. 67/2003, 135/2004, 61/2005, 101/2007 and 104/2009),

2. The Criminal Code Procedure ("Official Gazette of RS", no. 72/11, 101/11, 121/12, 32/13, 45/13 and 55/14),

3. The Criminal Code ("Official Gazette of RS", no. 121/12),4. The Law on Police ("Official Gazette of RS", no. 6/2016),

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5. The Law on Cooperation of Serbia and Montenegro with the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 ("Official Gazette of the FRY", no. 18/02).

In accordance with the Article 2 of the Law on Organization and Jurisdiction of Government Authorities in War Crimes Proceedings, the Service is authorized for submitting the criminal complaints to the War Crimes Prosecution for the following crimes:

The criminal offences related to the Art. 370 to 386 of the Criminal Code, Serious violations of international humanitarian law committed on the territory of the

former Yugoslavia since January 1, 1991, in accordance with the Statute of the ICTY, The criminal offence related to the Art. 333 of the Criminal Code - Assisting an offender

upon the offense is committed, and if related to the Items 1 and 2, of the Art. 2, of the Law on the Organization and Jurisdiction of Government Authorities in War Crimes Proceedings.

The Data Secrecy Law ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", no. 104/2009) is always applied during the activities of the Service. Accordingly, the Criminal Police Department received the list of chiefs of the Service in order to be issued individual decisions to access classified information, in accordance with the Law on Police and the Decree on the Manner and Procedure of Marking the Confidentiality of Data or Documents ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", no. 8/2011).

Two members of the Service were appointed by the Minister to act upon requests for exercising the right of protection of personal data in accordance with the Law on Protection of Personal Data ("Official Gazette of RS", no. 97/2008 104/2009, 68/2012 - decision of the Constitutional Court and 107/2012), and for requests to access information of public importance - The Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance ("Official Gazette of RS", no.120/2004, 54/2007, 104/2009, 36/2010).

Establishment of joint investigative teams and working procedures between the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor and the War Crimes Investigation Service:

In addition to acting upon the requests of the judicial authorities of the Republic of Serbia, in their daily work police officers of the Service on their own initiative conduct activities to take information and data from witnesses and the damaged persons, analyze the available evidence material and inform the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office about the results. On the basis of these information the Prosecutor decides about further steps, in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Serbia. Depending on the complexity of the war crime case, its scope and urgency, a group of two, three or four members of the Service are formed who are

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accountable to one prosecutor. During the work on the case, contacts and consultations are realized on daily basis between operational team / teams and the competent prosecutor. The working procedures that are applied during those operative activities are regulated by the Criminal Procedure Code.

On the basis of the above analysis, the Ministry of the Interior will urgently undertake measures to ensure the optimal status and capacity of the War Crimes Investigation Service, which will contribute to the improvement and efficiency of police investigations of war crimes as provided for in the Action Plan for Chapter 23.

Time limit: Continuously, commencing from Quarter 2 of 2016


Update, March 2018:

The Service is relocated to new building in 2 Obilicev Venac Street, Belgrade. As a result, the Service received adequate accommodation facilities - more working premises and adequate space for storing files in the physical form.

In accordance with the Law on Police and the Regulation on the Evaluation of Police Officers and Other Employees in the Ministry of Interior, the second cycle of the evaluation of the members of the Service has been carried out. The Evaluation refers to the second half of 2017.

One member of the Service participated in the seminar "Raising Awareness on the Protection Program among All Stakeholders" - Cooperation in the judiciary in criminal proceedings: Strengthening Witness Protection in the Fight against Organized Crime, Terrorism and Corruption (WINPRO III). The seminar was organized by the representatives of the NI-CO (Northern Ireland Organization for International Cooperation) and the Project Team WINPRO III, in cooperation with the Protection Unit of the Ministry, and under the patronage of the IPA 2015 Program.

In January 2018 the second meeting of the Working Group for Monitoring the Implementation of the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes was held, which was established upon the initiative of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia. Head of Service took part in the meeting.Within the Project "Support to Strategic Management and Development of Integration Capacities of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia" two members of the Service attended the advanced training course “EU Functioning”, in January 2018. The course was financed by the

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Kingdom of Sweden, in support of strengthening the capacity building in the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia in the field of managing the EU process.

In February 2018 two members of the Service attended the training course “Processing upon Requests on Free Access to Information of Public Importance”, and in March 2018 one member of the Service attended the training course “Implementation of the Law on Protection of Personal Information“.

On 8th of March 2018 the meeting was held in the Ministry of Interior with participation of all representatives of the organizational units of the Ministry in order to prepare reports on the upcoming revision of the Action Plan on the Implementation of the Activities for the Chapter 23 “Justice and Fundamental Rights”. One member of the Service participated in the meeting.

On the initiative of the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office an expert meeting was held in March 2018, in order to present the Prosecutor's Strategy for Investigation and Prosecution of War Crimes in the Republic of Serbia 2018-2023. The meeting was attended by the Head of the Service. In connection with above mentioned, the Service submitted to the Prosecutor's Office its commentary on the preliminary version of the Strategy.

In accordance with the objective defined in item 5 of the National Strategy of Prosecution of War Crimes, and article 13 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission on Missing Persons, the Expert Group for Solving the Cases of Missing Persons on the Territory of the Former SFRY was established. In connection with the above mentioned, the Expert Group held two interdepartmental meetings: the first from 30th of November until 1st of December 2017, and the second from 15th until 16th of March 2018. Meetings were held in organisation of the Commission on Missing Persons with support of the UNDP. The representatives of the Service were participated in the meetings besides the representatives of other relevant state authorities.

Two members of the Service participated in the Workshop “Strengthen the Analytical Skills of Managers in Conducting Investigations” which was implemented within the Project "Official Development Cooperation between Slovenia and Serbia". The Workshop took place in March 2018, in Orasac, the Republic of Serbia.

One member of the Service attended the Fourth Course within the Project “Strengthening the Capacities of the Serbian Police in the Fight against Corruption”, organized by the OSCE-Mission to Serbia.

Initial report:

In the previous period the new members of the Service management were appointed: the Head of the Service, Deputy Head of the Service, Head of the Division for Discovering Crimes against

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Humanity and International Law and Searching for Missing Persons, Head of the Division of Operational Analytics, Logistics and Documenting. All of them have a long-term police experience, and the necessary knowledge and skills to carry out their functions.

In accordance with the Law on Police and the Regulation on the Evaluation of Police Officers and Other Employees in the Ministry of Interior, each year in two cycles, the evaluation of the members of the Service are carried out. The elements of the employee evaluation system, evaluation criteria and method of evaluation are provided by the Regulation. The evaluation is the basis for monitoring and improving the results of employees' work in the Ministry, career development and promotion, in order to achieve the strategic goals and plans of the Ministry and the Service. The evaluation process is public, the results of the process are confidential, and the evaluation is independent and impartial. In accordance with the Law on Police and the Regulation on the Evaluation of Police Officers and Other Employees in the Ministry of Interior, the first cycle of the evaluation of the members of the Service has been carried out.

Within the Project "Support to Strategic Management and Development of Integration Capacities of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia" two training courses were realized: “EU Functioning” and “EU Law”. The courses were financed by the Kingdom of Sweden, in support of strengthening the capacity building in the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia in the field of managing the EU process. Two members of the Service attended the “EU Functioning” training course, and one member attended the “EU Law” training course.

Representatives of the Service are attending training courses which are organized by the Human Resources Management Service of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. That Service creates a general professional training program for civil servants, ministries, special organizations and services of the Government, and organizes professional development in accordance with the Program. The program includes the training courses related to the activities of the War Crimes Investigation Service, such as: training courses for the authorized persons who provide information of public importance, training course on the classified information protection, training course on protection and improvement of human and minority rights, public relations, language courses, etc.

After the previous strategic document “The Development Strategy of the Ministry of Interior 2011-2016” ceased to be valid, the Ministry started the process of creating a new Development Strategy for the upcoming period 2018-2023. In order to create the Strategy of the Ministry and the Action Plan for its implementation the Service made the SWOT analysis and PESTLE environmental analysis. The Service also made the analysis of the strategic framework, the normative framework, the current situation (threats and risks), the possibilities for development and the current situation in the Service (strengths and weaknesses).

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Within the work of the Working Group for Monitoring and Proposing Activities for the Work Improvement in the Ministry of Interior, the Service submits reports on preparation of strategic documents, international cooperation, projects and current working cases to the competent Department. This activity takes place on monthly basis.

The Service has improved technical and material capacities thanks to the donation of IT equipment which was donated to the Ministry of Interior – the Criminal Police Department – the Service by the US Department of Justice through ICITAP.

Within the Project "Support to the Development Capacities of the Strategic Management and European Integration in the Ministry of Interior", the Swedish Agency for International Development and Cooperation (SIDA) donated a server for the use in the Information Management Software "ZyLab".

The Service emphasizes the great significance of the donation which contributes to the implementation of the recommendations from the Screening Report 1.4.1 of the Action Plan for Chapter 23 - "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights".

In this regard, the Service is planning an adequate maintenance and improvement of the existing ZyLab archive server system in the future, as well as further training of its existing and new users.

When it comes to improvement of office accommodation capacities of the Service, it should be noted that the Government of the Republic of Serbia made a decision by which the Service will use the premises that are located in a part of the building in Obilicev Venac Street 2, in Belgrade. Accordingly, the Decision on forming a Commission for Performing Tasks of Takeover of Business Premises was issued by the Minister of Interior, which will be used by the Service. Two members of the Service were appointed to the Commission. After the handover of premises was performed, a tender is announced for an adaptation of the office premises.

Adoption of joint internal operating rules of the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor and the War Crimes Investigation Service, at the initiative of the War Crimes Prosecutor.

Time limit: Quarter 2 of 2016 Activity is fully implemented.

Update, March 2018:

Аt the initiative of the War Crimes Prosecutor, the Head of the War Crime Investigation Service and the War Crime Prosecutor adopted joint internal operating rules. Joint teams are formed to act on each individual case. They have regular meetings (on a weekly basis) in order to coordinate work activities.

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Initial report:

The War Crimes Prosecutor initiated common internal rules of cooperation with the War Crimes Identification Service (WCIS). The internal operational rules defined between the War Crimes Prosecutor and WCIS Head Officer involve the creation of joint teams for each individual case, as well as regular weekly meetings aimed at effective coordination of work on each concrete case. By putting the new Criminal Procedure Code into effect in January 2012, the War Crimes Division of the Higher Court in Belgrade and the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office started with application of its provisions related to the investigation and war crimes prosecution. According to the Code pre-investigation proceedings and investigation are managed by the public prosecutor. In pre-investigation and investigation proceedings the public prosecutor entrusts the certain actions to the police, in accordance with the provisions of this Code.

Improving cooperation between the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor and the War Crimes Investigation Service through:

- Organization of joint trainings;

- Establishment of a joint strategic team to define guidelines and directions of acting in matters of common concern;

- Formation of joint operational teams;

- Periodic mutual organization of round tables in order to exchange experiences and improve joint operation.



Update, March 2018:

The Prosecutor's Office initiated round tables and lectures for the members of the Ministry of Interior (the War Crime Investigation Service and the Protection Unit) on the subject of „Basic Communication with Media“. In relation to the above mentioned activities, the War Crimes Prosecutor held a meeting with the Head of the Service. Also, the Prosecutor provided the WINPRO team support for the realization of those activities.

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The training and education program of the OSCE Project "Support to Monitoring of National War Crimes Trials (Phase II) has not yet been realized for employees of the Service.

Activity related to eestablishment of a joint strategic team will be realized in the upcoming period. Its eestablishment is provided by the Prosecutor's Strategy for Investigation and Prosecution of War Crimes which was adopted at the Prosecution's Collegium on 4th of April 2018. The activities of the joint strategic team will be focused on defining guidelines and directions of acting in matters of common concern.

Јoint operational teams of the Prosecutor's Office and the Service are formed at the initiative of the Prosecutor. In this regard, the representatives of the Prosecutor's Office hold regular meetings with the representatives of the Service in order to deal with war crime cases more effectively.

The War Crime Prosecutor and the Head of the War Crime Investigation Service hold regular meetings/round tables in order to determine priority and course of activities, exchange experiences and improve joint operation.

Initial report:

A joint strategic team will be formed following the adoption of the Prosecution Strategy. The team activities will focus on defining the guidelines and directions for addressing matters of mutual interest.

Joint teams, which were formed for each individual case, regularly meet in order to discuss and harmonize their upcoming activities.

In the period ahead, the OWCP will initiate round table meetings dedicated to the exchange of experience and ideas regarding joint OWCP – WCIS activities.

Within the OSCE Mission to the Republic of Serbia Project "Support to Monitoring of National War Crimes Trials (Phase II)", two meetings were held with representatives of the OSCE Mission to the Republic of Serbia, the Ministry of Interior: The Professional Development and Training Department, the War Crimes Investigation Service and the Protection Unit. The meetings were dedicated to the training and education program for employees of the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office, judges and court assistants of the War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade and the War Crimes Department of the Court of Appeal in Belgrade, as well as employees of the War Crimes Service and the Protection Unit. Representatives of the OSCE Mission to the Republic of Serbia created a questionnaire with a 2018 training program, which could be filled in for the training courses needed for members of the Service. This activity is on-going.

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The Draft of the Prosecutor’s Strategy for War Crimes Prosecution from 2016 to 2026, which is managed by the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Serbia, provides development of cooperation between the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office and the War Crimes Investigation Service. The Strategy also provides establishing of joint strategy team in order to define guidelines and directions of acting in matters of mutual interest, establishing joint operational teams together with the prosecutor as the head of procedure, as well as organizing of periodical mutual round tables in order to exchange experiences and improve their mutual activities.

1.2. Trials

Objective 1: Improved efficiency of trials for war crimes, by ensuring continuity in the composition of the judicial chambers.

Activities:

Consistent application of Articles 10 and 10a of the Law on the Organization and Jurisdiction of Government Authorities in War Crimes Proceedings, in respect of the period for which judges are assigned to the War Crimes Chamber;

Time limit: ContinuouslyActivity is being successfully implemented.

Update, March 2018:

In order the case law of the war crimes trial chamber to be uniformed, by the decision of the president of the Higher Court in Belgrade number SU I – 2 193/17 the Department for the case law was established within the Higher Court in Belgrade with 10 judges. The president of the Department for war crimes I this court is the head od the Department for case law for war crimes.

Initial report:

Determination of additional judges in cases in which there is a reasonable fear that due to the expiry of the term of the presiding judge instructed to the department for war crimes, the trial had to start over again.

6 judges are engaged in the Department for War Crimes of the Appellate Court in Belgrade for the period of 6 years. When deciding on complaints the Appellate court decides as 5 judges council and therefore given that there is 6 judges engaged, the work continuity is ensured.

Since 2010 when the Appellate Court was founded, three of six judges appointed to the Department for War Crimes of the Appellate Court in Belgrade were transferred to the Supreme

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Court of Cassation, other department of the Appellate Court, and one of them was retired. Instead of them, two new judges were appointed.

With respect to all mentioned before it is secured the Appellate court in Belgrade to act as the second instance court in war crimes cases.

By publishing the Annual report for acting of judges of the Higher court in Belgrade in 2018, the provisions of the Articles 10 and 10a of the Law on organization and jurisdiction of the state authorities in war crimes cases are fully implemented.

Objective 2: Harmonized jurisprudence of all war crimes courts and chambers in former Yugoslavia, through the establishment of a regional database.

Activities:

The War Crimes Prosecutor should start negotiations with his counterparts in neighboring states on the establishment of a regional database of war crimes case trials, which would be available electronically to all courts and parties to the proceedings, as well as the general public, provided personal data are protected, which would considerably contribute to harmonization of jurisprudence.



Update, March 2018:

The regional consultations scheduled for March 2018 were not held. In the course of the forthcoming consultations between all regional prosecutors, the War Crimes Prosecutor will initiate the creation of a unified regional database covering all war crimes trials, which would be electronically accessible to all courts and parties to proceedings, as well as to the general public, in compliance with the rules of personal data protection. The consultations will be held in the framework of the UNDP-facilitated regional project Enhancing Regional Cooperation in the Processing of War Crimes and the Search for Missing Persons (2017 – 2019).

Initial report:

The Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor initiated a meeting with the Croatian State Prosecutor, as well as that with the BH Acting Prosecutor. The meetings were dedicated to the harmonization of attitudes towards further regional cooperation. On 27 October 2017, a UNDP-facilitated meeting

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of regional prosecutors was organized in Belgrade. The next meeting dedicated to the enhancement of regional cooperation, which has been scheduled for March 2018, could be an opportunity for the War Crimes Prosecutor to initiate steps towards the unification of judicial practices. While the War Crimes Prosecutor cannot initiate the creation of a unified regional database involving all trials addressing war crimes committed in the former Yugoslav territory (given that the creation of such a database should be linked to courts rather than to prosecution services), she will certainly engage in that process.

Objective 3: Improved conditions in courtrooms where war crimes trials are conducted.

Activities:

The Ministry of Justice shall endeavor, through the applications for IPA funds submitted to the EU, on the proposal of the High Judicial Council, to provide adequate technical equipment for the courtrooms in which war crimes trials are held.

Pursuant to Article 354 of the Criminal Procedure Code, presidents of the Higher and Appellate Court in Belgrade will strive to ensure the maintenance of hearings in adequate courtrooms in other courts through cooperation with the High Judicial Council. Activity is being successfully implemented.

Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

In 2017, 3.5 millions dinars was dedicated in order court rooms of the Higher Court in Belgrade – the Special Department to be equipped with the appropriate system for audio and video recording.

Objective 4: Continuous improvement of expertise of the holders of judicial office and staff engaged in war crimes cases

Activities:

At the initiative of the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor, Higher and Appellate Court in Belgrade, and in cooperation with the High Judicial Council, the State Prosecutorial Council and the Judicial Academy, a system of training and additional education will be established for judges, prosecutors, assistants, deputies and police investigators in the fields of international criminal and international humanitarian law, as well as case management, first through the development and adoption of special programs, followed by providing training. The training should be designed as initial (intended for the judges who are yet to be allocated to war crimes departments or express interest in this type of training) and

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continuous, intended for holders of judicial office, assistants, associates, advisors and police officers who are already engaged in war crimes investigations and proceedings.



Update, March 2018:

At the High Judicial Council session, held on January 30, 2018 the Council has given approval to the Program of continuous training for judges and court staff for 2018.

In the first quarter 2018 the draft Prosecutorial strategy for investigation and criminal prosecution of war crimes in the Republic of Serbia 2018- 2023 was drafted, which envisions, as a separate area of activities, professional advancement for existing and newly employed employees and deputy prosecutors in the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office. When the Prosecutorial Strategy is adopted, training will be organized in cooperation with the Judicial Academy, the Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office and the State Prosecutorial Council, with the support of international partners.

All the OWCP case administrators, deputy prosecutors and assistant prosecutors took part in the creation of training / educational programmes in the area of international criminal law. Specifically, all of them answered a detailed questionnaire about the needs in this area, provided by the Judicial Academy and the Belgrade Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The realization of such training / educational programmes is expected within the determined timeframes.

Initial report:

In March 2017, a Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor took part in a panel discussion within the framework of the seminar entitled “The ICTY Heritage and Nuremberg Principles“. The seminar provided an opportunity for the OWCP to present its operational practice as an example of domestic judicial practices, as well as to highlight the importance of the ICTY Liaison Officers project, which facilitates the exchange of data/evidence and the applicability of such materials in cases before national courts. Finally, it was pointed out that the OWCP remained determined in its commitment to the prevention of impunity for war crimes and provision of justice for victims, while at all times observing the accused persons’ rights, confidentiality of investigation and general right to defense.

The Higher court in Belgrade has delivered to the Judicial Academy a list of judges that are interested to participate in seminars as well as a list of judges assistants in the Department for War Crimes of the Higher Court in Belgrade.

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The Working Group for the drafting of the National Strategy defined a roadmap for the establishment of the system for training and education, not only in the area of international criminal law, but also in other relevant areas. The Draft of the Strategy defines the main areas of training, as well as the main steps for establishing the system. Trainings within the framework of international criminal law are held continuously in accordance with the previously accepted program for judges and prosecutors, as an integral part of the training program.

Also, at a session held on 23rd March 2017, the State Prosecutorial Council adopted the new Regulation of work of the State Prosecutorial Council (“Official gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 29/17), provisions of which are regulating establishment of a work group for education program that shall be established by the Council by a decision, as ad-hoc work body, in charge of, among other things, decision-making on mandatory continuous education in cases of election for a public prosecution office of a higher rank, changes of specialization, significant changes in legislation, introduction of new techniques of work or elimination of flaws in work noticed during performance evaluation.

Provisions of the new Regulation of work of the State Prosecutorial Council regulate that the work group for education program has three members – one of which is the Council elective member, two are prosecutorial position holders, as well as that the work group members are elected by the Council to a three-year term and they can be reelected, except for the Council elective member, whose term lasts until the expiration of the tenure as the Council member. Finally, an obligation of the work group for education program to submit an annual report on work to the State Prosecutorial Council is defined. The State Prosecutorial Council shall thus ensure continuity in work, related to determination of criteria for referring the prosecutorial position holders to additional education, based on the performance evaluation results, as well as evaluation results from previous educations, including referring the holders of prosecutorial function for additional education.

This working group of the State Prosecutorial Council will include in its work, in cooperation with other competent institutions, the issue of specialized training in the area of international criminal law and international humanitarian law, as well as the management of cases in the competent public prosecutor's offices.

The High Judicial Council gives approval to the Program of continuous training of the Judicial Academy .

As one of the bearers of this activity, the High Judicial Council will actively participate in undertaking activities related to the education for judges, in order to achieve the stated result.

2. PROTECTION OF WITNESSES AND VICTIMS

Objective 1: Improved normative framework for effective functioning of the witness protection system in war crimes proceedings in Serbia.

Activities:

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Inter-sectorial Working group of the Ministry of Justice will prepare an analysis of court practice in the implementation of Article 102 of the CPC as well as the analysis of the provisions and results of the implementation of the Law on the program of protection of participants in criminal proceedings and formulate conclusions and recommendations on the needs of any amendment to this law or the accompanying bylaws in order to improve the protection system, with the aim of establishing the need for the amendments to the law to improve witness and victim protection.

Time limit: Quarter 1 - 4 of 2016


Initial report:

The analysis have been finished as a part of comprehensive analysis that is related to the alignment of the normative and institutional framework of the Republic of Serbia with the relevant EU acquis in the field of support to witnesses and victims.

Objective 2: Enhanced institutional capacity for witness protection in war crimes proceedings.

Activities:

The Ministry of the Interior will initiate and, in cooperation with the Commission for the Implementation of the Protection Programme for Participants in Criminal Proceedings, prepare the analysis of the status and needs of the Protection Unit, with special emphasis on:

A) process of hiring staff bearing in mind the potential impact of prior participation of candidates in the conflicts in former Yugoslavia;

B) implementation of an appropriate work methodology and existence of the appropriate technical capacity;

V) determining the sufficient number of employees and allocation to this Unit of competent highly motivated professionals, including a psychologist, and other staff.

Time limit: Quarter 1 of 2016 Activity is fully implemented.

Initial report:

The Commission for implementation of witness protection Program made decision to start assessment on October 12th 2015. Within a period October-December 2015 three meetings of the Commission aimed drafting the assessment has been held with an aim to implement the

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assessment and make a conclusion of this Analysis. The Commission had look over the documentation, procedures and the way of work of the Protection Unit.

After receiving a feedback from the WCPO, the Commission successfully finalized the Analysis on the February 1st, 2016.

The results of the analysis showed that the activities which were defined in the Action Plan are in accordance with the conclusion of analysis, and in the next period all recommendations from the conclusion will be implemented.

On the basis of the above analysis, the Ministry of the Interior will urgently undertake measures to ensure the optimal status and capacity of the Protection Unit.

Time limit: Commencing from Quarter 2 of 2016


Update, March 2018:

By adopting of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Police, the Protection Unit got the status of a special unit within the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Apart from the positive influence on the improvement of the position of the Unit, the change will also enable capacity building, through the adoption of a special regulation that will regulate the method of selection of personnel for work in the Unit, the manner of their receipt in the Unit and their transfer.

Three members of the Unit participated in the training titled "Threat and risk assessment", held in the period from February 05 - 09, 2018 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Two members of the Unit participated in a media workshop titled "Developing a communication strategy, media influence; awareness of social media, rules and practices ", held in the period from February 12 - 13, 2018. in Belgrade.

Two members of the Unit participated in training titled "Training of trainers", held in the period from February 19 – March 02, 2018 in Tirana, the Republic of Albania.

Two members of the Unit participated in the training titled "Children legend building course", held in the period from February 27 until March 1st ,2018in Belgrade.

One member of the Unit participated in a seminar titled "Exit Strategy", held in the period from February 13 - 15, 2018. in Podgorica, Republic of Montenegro.

The Protection Unit moved to a new office space, assigned by the Police Directorate.The adaptation and equipping of rooms is in progress in order to meet the needs of the Unit.

Initial report:

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During the mentioned period, the Ministry of Interior allocated significant funds for equipping the Protection Unit. Regarding with this, Protection unit was supplied with tactical equipment, IT equipment, specialized vehicles with and certain level of protection, devices of communications and in the next period it is expected to receive other technical tools.

During this period in accordance with the plan of the MOI, the shooting training within the Department for education and tanning were held, as well as the tanning how to use fire weapon, course of shooting, and other operative police skills for Police members of the Protection Unit.

Also through the EU Project WINPRO III, several training were held too, on which members of the Protection Unit had participated.

Objective 3: Improved position of witnesses and victims during the criminal proceedings through consistent application of procedural disciplinary measures.

Activities:

Criminal law chambers consistently apply the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code regulating the sanctioning of participants in the procedure who violate procedural discipline, particularly if they attack the integrity of the witnesses or victims2.



Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

As before the provisions of the article 102 and articles 369-374 of the Law on Criminal Procedure that regulate sanctioning of the participants in the proceedings that break discipline during the procedure are fully implemented especially in cases when some of participants attack integrity of the victims and witnesses.

Competent public prosecutors, the State Prosecutorial Council and the competent bar association regularly notify the court about the measures undertaken with regard to the caution referred to in Article 374 of the Criminal Procedure Code.


Activity is being successfully implemented.2 Articles 102, and 369-374 of the Criminal Procedure Code

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Update, March 2018:

In the reporting period the State Council of Prosecutors did not receive information from the president of a trial chamber about the warning upon the Art. 374 of the Criminal Procedure Code, about the untimely or inadequate conduct of the public prosecutor or the person who substitutes him, which causes the prolongation of the proceedings.

In respect of protection of witnesses and victims and improvement of their position, in the first quarter 2018 the State Prosecutorial Council received invitation from the OSCE Mission to the Republic of Serbia to take part in the project “Support to the victims and witnesses of crime in the Republic of Serbia”, whose implementation started in this quarter. The State Prosecutorial Council accepted the invitation and appointed its representative the project’s Steering Committee.

Bar Association of Serbia have never been informed about any warning that was pronounced to the defense lawyer due to the delay of the court proceedings under Article 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Initial report:

There is no measures issued by the court under the Article 374 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Objective 4: Enhanced cooperation of state bodies involved in the witness protection system.

Activities:

Improvement of rules of procedure by the Commission for the Implementation of the Protection Programme and the Protection Unit fully respecting the interests of the criminal proceedings in which the protected person is placed under protective measures



Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

The report is the same as the next one.

Improvement of cooperation between the Protection Unit and the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor, through:

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- Signing of the Cooperation Protocol;

- Organization of joint trainings;

- Establishment of a joint strategic team to define guidelines and directions of acting in matters of common concern;

- Formation of joint operational teams;

- Periodic mutual organization of round tables in order to exchange experiences and improve joint operation.



Update, March 2018:

Members of the Protection Unit, together with War Crimes Prosecutors, have been continuously participating in training sessions, workshops and seminars in the field of witness protection organized by the EU grant project WINPROIII - "Criminal Justice Cooperation: Strengthening Witness Protection in the Fight Against Organized Crime, Terrorism and corruption ".

The OWCP initiated a number of round-table conferences and lectures on the Basics of Communication with the Media, intended specifically for the employees of the Protection Unit and War Crimes Identification Service. The aforementioned OWCP activities received support from the WINPRO III team, in terms of both logistics and international expertise in this area. The OWCP and the Protection Unit (PU) established joint teams which now regularly meet to look into the ways of raising their overall operational effectiveness, which in turn should secure better protection for participants in criminal proceedings.The OWCP does its best to upgrade the professional competence of its employees engaged in communication with victims and witnesses, and primarily of those assigned to the Victim/Witness Support Service.Since February 2018, information about activities of the Support and Information Service (SIS), which operates within the OWCP, has also been available on the Interactive Map of the victim support services / institutions in the Republic of Serbia. Created on the basis of the research conducted by the organization Victim Support Europe and the Serban Victimology Society, this Map offers a list of contact details of the organizations, services and agencies which provide assistance and support to victims of criminal acts in the Republic of Serbia. In terms of the enhancement of the overall victim support concept, the Map has dual importance. In addition to being a referential database of victim support services for the OWCP employees who come into contact with victims (SIS members in the first place), this Interactive Map facilitates access to information of relevance to those concerned. The OWCP and PU representatives jointly participate in training programmes and seminars addressing the witness protection issues. Organized as part of the WINPRO III project, such

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programmes are realized through IPA 2015/370-989. The OWCP fully supports the PU activities, specifically through active participation in seminars organized by this unit, which are aimed at raising the awareness of the imoprtance of protection programmes among the relevant authorities in the Republic of Serbia. In the period ahead, the OWCP will initiate round table meetings dedicated to the exchange of experience and harmonization of joint OWCP – PU activities.

Initial report:

A series of consultative meetings resulted in the harmonized version of the Protocol of Cooperation with the Witness Protection Unit (WPU). Consequently, on 06 July 2017, the War Crimes Prosecutor and the Minister of the Interior signed the Protocol on Cooperation in the Witness Protection Area. The Protocol is intended to promote cooperation between the OWCP and WPU – part of the Ministry of the Interior, as well as to facilitate their joint work and mutual relations.

On 03 April 2017, pursuant to the Republic’s Public Prosecutor’s Compulsory Instruction of 05 December 2016, the Service for Informing and Support of Victims and Witnesses (SIS) was established within the OWCP. The manner of the SIS functioning, alongside its goals, operational principles and appointment of contact persons, have been governed by the Rules of the SIS Operations, enacted on 29 March 2017.

Pursuant to the relevant War Crimes Prosecutor’s Ruling, and with a view to ensuring effective OWCP – SIS cooperation, two OWCP staff members (who are also members of the Victim/Witness Support Service) were appointed as persons responsible for communication with victims and witnesses. During the mentioned period through the European Commission WINPRO III project “Criminal Justice Cooperation: Witness Protection in the fight against serious crime and corruption”. Three trainings were held in which members of the Prosecutor's Office and the Protection Unit took part together.

3. SUPPORT TO VICTIMS AND WITNESSES

Objective 1: Improvement of the normative framework regulating the status of victim and witness.

Activities:

The Ministry of Justice will perform an analysis of the level of harmonization of the normative framework with recommendations for the purpose of effective adoption of the minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims in accordance with

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Directive 2012/29/EU3, in order to set the direction of changes of the normative framework and incorporate certain victims’ rights (such as the right to understand and be understood, rights of victims when making a complaint, right to receive information, right to interpretation and translation, right to access victim support services, rights relating to victim protection and recognition of their specific protection needs, including individual assessment).



Initial report:

The expert hired within the MDTF-JSS submitted to the Ministry of Justice the Final Analysis on the alignment of the Serbian legal framework with the Victims Directive, as well as best comparative practices in 5 EU states in June 2016. Moreover, the local expert conducted an analysis “The position of the victim of the criminal act/damaged by the criminal act in the criminal system of the Republic of Serbia” that includes analysis on alignment of the provisions of the Law on Criminal Proceedings with the Directive of the European Union on victims and analysis of the alignment of the Law on Juveniles with the relevant acquis on victims. Based on the performed analyses, Recommendations for establishment of high quality and sustainable network of support services for victims and witnesses at national level have been developed and submitted to the Ministry of Justice. The key aspects of the analysis are the following: Basic principles of organization and functioning of the network of support services for victims and witnesses

I AVAILABILITY

The key principle that should be followed when establishing a network of support services at the national level is the high level of availability of services through: o maximum territorial coverage; o a uniform structure of services throughout the territory; o development of a precise plan for the gradual improvement of network availability, both geographically and in terms of the variety of services offered.

II MAXIMUM UTILIZATION OF AVAILABLE RESOURCES

Bearing in mind the need of a prompt establishment of a network of support services for victims and witnesses, as well as the limited material and human resources, it is necessary to work on the maximum utilization of existing resources by: o mapping of existing service providers; o mapping available services; o networking of existing providers that meet clear, objective and

3 Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime

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previously established criteria, including from among the institutions of the Republic of Serbia, as well as civil society organizations.

III SUSTAINABILITY

Although project support will be provided for the initial establishment of the network services, one of the key challenges will be to ensure its sustainability through balancing the need to provide a sustainable source of funding of the providers and restrictive budgetary policy of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. In this regard, it will be necessary to:

- establish a Fund for periodic allocation of funds to service providers; - identify sources of inflow of funds into the Fund (gambling, seized proceeds from crime,

funds raised by applying the principle of opportunity of criminal prosecution, fines, etc.). - establish a system of specialized training with the emphasis on training of trainers (ToT);

During II quarter of 2017, three reports that will be used for the preparation of Victim support Strategy in the second half of 2018 have been submitted to the Ministry of Justice:

- 1) Overview of existing victim support services in Serbia that includes recommendations for further work on establishment of the system for victims support in Serbia;

- 2) Comparative analysis on the experiences of Finland, France and the United Kingdom on securing funding for victim support services;

- 3) Report on Finish and French experience in organizing comprehensive support services at the national level.

- In addition Analysis of legislation, policy documents and practice guidelines relevant to the responsibilities of Serbian police when dealing with victims of crime has also been prepared. The necessary funds for the development of the Strategy and accompanying activities have been secured through IPA 2016. The project is implemented by the OSCE mission to Serbia.

The Minister of Justice will establish a working group to propose amendments to the normative framework with the aim of harmonization with the notion of victim in international human rights treaties, and of effective application of minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime/injured parties in order to harmonize with the Directive 2012/29/EU in accordance with the gap analysis.


Activity is not implemented.

Update, March 2018:

By the decision of the minister of justice number: 119-01-00016/2018-06 issued on 17 th April 2018, the working group for drafting the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code was

34

established in accordance with the Action Plan for Chapter 23. By implementing the measures prescribed by the Action Plan for Chapter 23 the system of procedural guarantees that provides equal access to justice by all citizens, better protection of victims and witnesses will be established.

Also, by the decision of the minister of justice number: 119-01-00017/2018-06 issued on 8 th

March 2018, the working group for drafting of amendments to the Criminal Code was established. The amedments to the Criminal Code will be conducted on the basis of alignment with the Directive 2012/29/EU that prescribes minimal standards on rights, support and protection of those who were victims in criminal actions.

Initial report:

The working group has not been established during the period this report is related on.

The Ministry of Justice will issue a bylaw regulating the mandatory provision of information to victims on all aspects of the criminal proceedings of interest to them in accordance with Article 6 of Directive 2012/29/EU.



Update, March 2018:

The relevant bylaw will be drafted after the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code are adopted.

Initial report:

With the support of IPA2016, implemented by OSCE, the amendments of the normative framework shall be performed in line with the Action plan and therefore the bylaw that regulates providing of information to the victims related to the all aspects of the criminal proceedings they have interests in is to be adopted in accordance with the Article 6. of the Directive 2012/29/EU, after changing the normative framework.

The Ministry of Justice, in cooperation with civil society organizations, will create and distribute a brochure containing the information about victims’ rights (legal aid, psychological support, protection, etc.) in accordance with Article 4 of the Directive 2012/29/ EU.



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Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

This activity will be implemented within the IPA 2016 project „Support to victims and witnesses of crime“, implemented by the OSCE mission to Serbia-а, including the media campaign on the rights of victims/injured parties and witnesses.

In adition, some progress was achived in the reporting period. Namely, in 2017, Victimology Society of Serbia has conducted a research of the organisations and institutions that provide help and support to victims in the teritorry of the Republic of Serbia. The reseach was a part of the project named „Services for support to the victims in Serbia“ that was realised by the World Bank and Multidonor Trust Fond for Support to the Justice Sector (MDTF - JSS) in cooperation with Victim Support Europe. The main goal of the research was maping of the organizations and institutions that provide aid and support to victims and gathering of basic data on every organisation i.e. institions that work with victims, gathering of information related to the available aid models, target groups as well as possible ways based on which the victims can get aid and support. The practical result of this activity is data base of all institutions and organizations in the teritorry of the Republic of Serbia that provide aid and support to victim, which has a model of interactive map that can be used either by victims or by everyone who is providing aid and support to victims. The interactive map, which is updating regulary, has basic data on services that are part of the state authorities and organisations of the civil society that provide aid to the victims in Serbia and this map is available on https://www.victimservices.eu.

In the second half of 2017, organisation Victim Support Europe together with the World Bank and MDTF-JSS, in cooperation with Transcendent Media Capital and Victimology Society of Serbia has realizated a campaign named „Help Exist“. The main goal of the campaign was raising of awairness and informing of victims, citizens and employees of the state authorities, institutions and organizations of the civil society on rights of victims and existing services for victims. As a part of the campaign brochures with information on concequences of the victimization to the victims, needs of the victims, aid and protection models, as well as contact information of the organizations are made. Posters were made as well. Both, posters and brochures, were distributed during conferences organized by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia and World Bank (Steptember 19th 2017) in Belgrade, (October 25th 2017) in Niš, (October 26th 2017) in Novi Sad. Above mentioned distribution has been conducted continioulsly by the Victimology Society of Serbia.

In addition, during November and December 2017, the national media campaign named “Help Exist” was in progress on the National Television of the Republic of Serbia. As a part of the campaign two videos were shown on the national television in order of raising of awareness on different models of victimization and the existing help. Mentioned media campaign was conducted on social networks as well.

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Objective 2: Enhancing the capacity of the bodies providing support to the witnesses of war crimes during all phases of the criminal proceedings, such as: the Service for Assistance and Support to Victims and Witnesses within the Higher Court in Belgrade, the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor and the Ministry of the Interior Protection Unit.

Activities:

The Service for Assistance and Support to Victims and Witnesses within the Higher Court in Belgrade will hire an expert for the provision of psycho-social support.



Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

There is a full time employed psychologist Ljubinka Marković in the Higher Court in Belgrade and bearing in mind a scope of her duties she can be engaged with the Service for assistance and protection of victims and witnesses in the Department for war crimes of the Higher Court in Belgrade with the previous consent od the competent authority.

The Protection Unit of the Ministry of the Interior through the changes in job classification act will enable the engagement of professional staff for the provision of psycho-social support.


Report:


Update, March 2018:

The unit has initiated the procedure of an internal competition for admission to the work of psychologists and social workers, however, due to the adoption of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Police, the competition is currently suspended until the new buy-law on job sistematization is adopted.

Initial report:

Approvals were obtained for amending the Ordinance on Internal Organization and Systematization of the Employment Unit's workplaces, which refers to the systematization of

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specific jobs: psychology and social specialists, as well as IT expert. The above mentioned jobs were systematized and an internal competition for the admission of the mentioned IT expert was announced.

To meet the needs of the Service for Assistance and Support to Victims and Witnesses staff, the Higher Court in Belgrade and the Judicial Academy, with the support of the High Judicial Council and the Ministry of Justice, and in cooperation with the academic community and civil society organizations, will occasionally organize additional training and encourage the participation in professional conferences, to ensure continuous enhancement of their professional capabilities.



Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

Employees engaged with the Service for assistance and protection of victims and witnesses have participated in the seminar “Workshop” on 30.05.2016. and in the regional conference “Cooperation in Criminal Justice” on 07.09.2016 (organized by the OSCE and EU Project NI-COWINPRO3).


To meet the needs of the Protection Unit staff, the Training Centre of the Ministry of the Interior, in cooperation with the academic community and civil society organizations, will occasionally organize additional training and encourage the participation in professional conferences, to ensure continuous enhancement of their professional capabilities, particularly in the field of victims’ rights, their protection and prevention of secondary victimization.



Update, March 2018:

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In accordance with the Training Program for the Police Officers of the Ministry of Interior for 2018, Protection Units members, independently or with the support of the Department for Vocational Education and Training, organize trainings related to operational police skills and training in firing and handling firearms.

Initial report:

No changes. Improvement of infrastructural and technical capacity of the services for assistance and support to victims and witnesses.



Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:


Objective 3: Establishment of the national network of services for assistance and support to victims and witnesses and integration of the Service for Assistance and Support to Victims and Witnesses of the Higher Court in Belgrade, taking into consideration the specificities of war crimes proceedings and the need for the witnesses for the defense to receive the same treatment by the Service for Assistance and Support to Victims and Witnesses as the witnesses for the prosecution.

Activities:

Establishment of a countrywide network of services for assistance and support to victims and witnesses during the investigation and all stages of the criminal proceedings, in accordance with a comprehensive analysis, including:

- normative aspect (current normative framework, best comparative solutions, international standards);

- financial assessment (sustainable financing, adequacy of premises and staff, need training needs);

- access to support services (network coverage, distance, mobile support teams).

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Time limit: for the analysis – Quarter 1 of 2016; for the network establishment - continuous commencing from 2018


Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

In terms of protecting witnesses and victims and improving their position, during the fourth quarter of 2016 the work group composed of representatives of the Republic Public Prosecution Office and the State Prosecutorial Council, with support of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, finalized the text of the General mandatory instruction on method of conduct of the Victim Witness Information and Support Services in public prosecution offices, signed by the Republic Public Prosecutor, which was submitted to the public prosecution offices.

Based on this General mandatory instruction, as of 1st February 2017 the Victim Witness Information and Support Services started to work in all Higher Public Prosecution Offices in the Republic of Serbia, the Prosecution Office for Organized Crime and from 3.4.2017. in the War Crimes Prosecution Office, which have strengthened the enforcement of the rights of witnesses and victims in criminal proceedings and improved their position.

The State Prosecutorial Council, jointly with the Republic Public Prosecution Office and the OSCE Mission to Serbia, has continued to build capacities of public prosecution offices in the area of providing information and support to the injured parties and witnesses and, with reference to that, prepared a new brochure on the Victim Witness Information and Support Services that contains basic information and contact data of all Services in public prosecution offices, and at the same time it participated at drafting of the Communication manual for public prosecution offices on communication with the witnesses and the injured parties. In addition to that, education on providing information and support to the injured parties and to the witnesses was conducted, both for persons working at the Services and for prosecutorial office holders, and the following seminars were delivered: 27-28 February 2017 in Nis, 13-14 March 2017 in Kragujevac, 20-21 March 2017 in Novi Sad, and on 3-4 April 2017 in Belgrade. After that, on 24th of April 2017, with support of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, a seminar was delivered in Belgrade for representatives of all court and prosecutorial services for support to the injured parties and witnesses of criminal offences, where the representatives of prosecutorial services were given posters and additional copies of brochures and communication manual. Moreover, on 29th of May 2017 in Belgrade, with support of the civil society organization “Astra”, a seminar was delivered “Support to services for assistance to the injured parties and witnesses”, where representatives of the services in public prosecution offices participated. Finally, on 27-28 of November 2017, in Belgrade a new seminar “Support to services for assistance to the injured parties and witnesses” was held, where, in addition to mutual exchange of experiences, the participants from the public prosecutors' offices and courts had the opportunity to hear the experiences of similar services in the countries of the region and the Netherlands.

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This activity will be fully implemented within the IPA 2016 project „Support to victims and witnesses of crime“, implemented by the OSCE mission to Serbia-а, including the media campaign on the rights of victims/injured parties and witnesses.

Objective 4: Improved regional cooperation in the field of providing support to victims and witnesses.

Activities:

The Ministry of Justice will initiate a regional conference on the improvement of cooperation in the provision of support to victims and witnesses, to discuss past cooperation and possibilities of its improvement through the signing of regional and bilateral cooperation agreements, regional experience sharing programmes, and the training of persons engaged in support services.



Update, March 2018:

In the reporting period, a meeting between the representatives of the Ministry of Justice and representatives of the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation was held. Discussion was related to the subject of the conference as well as to the possible attendants to the conference. The official confirmation of the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation on support to the organization of the regional conference is to be provided.

Initial report:

There is a ongoing process of consultations between the Ministry of Justice and the Embassy of Switzerland related to the providing of support to the organization of conference.

4. DEFENCE OF THE ACCUSED

Objective 1: Increasing the quality of (court) appointed and selected defense attorneys in war crimes proceedings. Activities:

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Developing a program of initial and continuous training in international humanitarian and international criminal law for the lawyers representing defendants in war crimes cases, in cooperation between the Serbian Bar Association, the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor, the War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade, and the Judicial Academy Time limit: Quarter 3 of 2016


Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

It has not been started with the implementation of the activity.

Implementation of the continuous training in the fields of international humanitarian and international criminal law for the lawyers representing defendants in war crimes cases, in cooperation between the Serbian Bar Association and the Judicial Academy



Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

The implementation of the subject activity depends on the initial implementation of the previous activity.

Objective 2: Improved system of financing the costs of the (court) appointed defense attorneys in war crimes cases.

Activities:

The working group established by the Minister of Justice will prepare an analysis of the provisions and results of the application of the Rulebook on the Remuneration for (Court) Appointed Attorneys in war crimes cases, including the recommendations for any changes thereof.

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Initial report:

By the decision of the Minister of Justice number: 119-01-00249/2017-06 the working group for analysis of the provisions and results of the application of the Rulebook on the Remuneration for (Court) Appointed Attorneys in war crimes cases has been established. The main conclusion on the meeting of the working group was that provisions of the Rulebook on the Remuneration for (Court) Appointed Attorneys in war crimes cases are not to be changed. Given that all regulations related to attorneys are to be changed during 2018, as a part of Chapter 3 obligations, the official standpoint of the working group is that eventual changes of the Rulebook should be made in the unified procedure of changes of regulations related to attorneys.

5. WAR CRIMES TRIALS AND THE ISSUE OF MISSING PERSONS

Objective 1: Improved normative framework of relevance for determining the fate of missing persons.

Activities:

The Republic of Serbia will continuously work on fulfilling the recommendations of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and notify the Committee on achieved results.



Update, March 2018:

In the period December 2017 - March 2018, was held one meeting of the Working Group on Missing Persons (February 27, 2018 in Belgrade) and one session of the sub-working group on forensic issues (23 February 2018 in Belgrade) and one meeting of the Team for analysis (on 22 February 2018 in Prishtina).

On 23 January 2018, in The Hague, Netherlands, was held a meeting of representatives of the Commission for Missing Persons with Serge Brammertz, Prosecutor of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) attended was also Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in The Hague, Mr. Petar Vico

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The introductory part of the meeting was held with the Prosecutor of the MICT, in order to familiarize him with the objectives of the visit. As the main purpose of the visit was highlighted desire to find a mutually acceptable way to gain access to the archives of the Prosecutor's Office / MICT to representatives of the Commission for Missing Persons in order to find any information that would help to locate individual and mass graves where was buried missing persons.

The meeting was continued in the context of reaching an agreement about the future form of cooperation between the Commission for Missing Persons and MICT within which was presented the scope of work of the Commission through the presentation of the mandate, the legal framework for international and regional cooperation, the number of missing persons, phase of the process during the examination location, check of the terrain, exhumation , identification and handover of the remains as well as the challenges and plans for future work.

In the final part of the meeting was talked about the modalities of the future cooperation with the willingness expressed by the MICT that allowed until then to Commission for Missing Persons to receive available and MICT-Documentary from the archive through the existing mechanism, in the form of requires information.

Mr. Brammertz was decided that the MICT and the Commission for Missing Persons have the same goal when it comes to missing persons in armed conflicts in the former SFRY and that is to help the families of the missing persons, adding in that occasion that the archive of MICT contains about 10 million pages that certainly contain information relevant to solving the problem of missing persons and that he is ready to cooperate with the Commission.

Initial report:

In accordance with obligations assumed, the Republic of Serbia in the 8 th session of the Committee on Enforced Disappearance, on February 4th and 5th, 2015 in Geneva presented the Initial Report of the Republic of Serbia on the Application of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted by the Government on January 15th, 2015 (Conclusion 05 number: 337-12/2015-1). The Report contains information relating to Art. 1 through 25 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance indicating the situation, issues and difficulties in specific sectors of the application of the Convention, as well as the measures, both legislative and those within the current policy in specific areas, which influenced the weaknesses noted. The Initial Report of the Republic of Serbia on the Application of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was presented and discussed of by the delegation of the Republic of Serbia headed by Veljko Odalović, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Committee on Missing Persons of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

The Human Rights Committee, within the Concluding Observations concerning the Initial Report of the Republic of Serbia on the Application of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, relating to the issue of missing persons, expressed its concerns that more than 1,650 person from the Kosovo conflict were still missing, that many of them, perhaps, were victims of enforced disappearance, and it gave a recommendation to the

44

Republic of Serbia to continue and enhance its efforts within the Working Group on Missing Persons aimed to achieve a further progress in the search of missing persons and, in case of death, to identify their remains.

In line with the recommendation of the Committee, the Commission undertook the following steps:

In 2016 were held three sessions of the Working Group on Missing Persons (on March 25 in Belgrade, June 8th in Bečići, and September 2nd in Priština) and three sessions of the Working Sub-Group on Forensic Issues (on March 4th in Priština, June 7th in Bečići, and November 10th in Belgrade).

In the session of the Working Group held on September 2nd, 2016 in Priština, under the Working Group on Forensic Issues was created the Analysis Team (composed of: 1 member from each of the following - the Belgrade delegation, Priština delegation, ICRC and EULEX), with the basic task to analyse all the existing information relevant to a specific case or event, with the only aim to help resolve the fait of the missing persons.

During 2017 were held two sessions of the Working Group on Missing Persons (on March 1st in Belgrade, May 16th in Priština), one session of the Working Sub-Group on Forensic Issues (on September 7th in Priština) and four meetings of the Analysis Team (on February 27 th in Belgrade, March 20th 2017 in Priština, July 19th in Belgrade, September 7th in Priština and December 5th in Belgrade).

In the period June 28th – 30th, 2017 in the Swiss Confederation, Geneva, organized by the International Committee of Red Cross and the Joint Office for Human Rights of UNMIK, was held the Round Table on Missing Persons – Belgrade and Priština, which meetings were attended, besides representatives of the Belgrade and Priština delegations of the Working Group, also by representatives of the associations of families of Serbian and Albanian missing persons.

The concluding observations and recommendations and challenges were clearly identified, namely:

1. Lack of new information2. Issue of wrong identification of remains3. Need for the Working Group on Missing Persons to develop a framework for the strategy

before the end of 2017, with clear priorities for the next two years.

As ordered by the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor, on November 9 th, 2015 an investigation stared in the Kiževak mine site, Municipality of Raška, for the purpose of establishing the activities necessary to precise the exact location of the possible mass grave. The investigation was interrupted on June 20th, 2017, since these activities failed to result in discovery of remains, and will be continued as soon as precise information about the location of burial are received. Duration of the works done in this location lasted a total of 148 working days, and approximately 130,000 m3 of the solid mass was excavated. During this period, the investigation used to be interrupted several times temporarily, due to bad weather conditions and due to the lack of funds.

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The representatives of the Belgrade delegation of the Working Group on Missing Persons and the Working Sub-Group on Forensic Issues in the period from 13-14.07.2016 and 27-28.07.2017 attended the search of the location near the Church of Christ the Savior in Priština, as a suspected site where, according to statements of several witnesses, in June 1999 were buried the remains of persons of Albanian nationality. On this occasion, no remains were found.

By the Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations, number: 61/177 dated on 6 th

February 2007 the International Convention on protection of all persons from enforced disappearances has been adopted, open for signing , ratification and access. By the adoption of the Law on Confirmation of the International Convention on protection of all persons from enforced disappearances, the Republic of Serbia is obliged to align its legal system with the International Convention on protection of all persons from enforced disappearances that was adopted on 20th December 2006 at the session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. The standpoint of the Republic of Serbia is that Republic of Serbia has implemented enforced disappearances through regulations of the criminal offences against freedom and rights of humans, i.e. unlawful deprivation of liberty prescribed in the Article 132 of the Criminal Code, criminal offence abdication prescribed in the Article 134 of the Criminal Code as well as criminal offence crime against humanity prescribed in the Article 371 and criminal offence war crimes against civilian population prescribed in the Article 372 of the Criminal Code.

By adoption od the National Strategy for Prosecution of War Crimes in February 2016, for the first time the commitment of the Republic of Serbia to fully align with the Convention was shown in a strategical document, so the Section 5 of the Strategy prescribes that Serbia will continuously work on fulfillment of recommendations of the Committee for enforced disappearances and will submit reports on results achieved to the Committee. Enforced disappearances are explicitly mentioned in the Serbian Criminal Code, after the last changes of the Criminal Code that happened in November 2016. Namely, the legislator decided to make changes with an intervention within the Article 371 of the Criminal Code as follows: Whoever in violation of the rules of international law, as part of a wider and systematic attack against civilian population orders> murder, inflicts on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its complete or partial extermination, enslavement, deportation, torture, rape, forcing to prostitution, forcing pregnancy or sterilization aimed the ethnic balance of the population, persecution on political, racial, national, ethical, sexual or other grounds, enforced disappearance, detention or abduction of persons without disclosing information on such acts in order to deny such person legal protection, oppression of a racial group of establishing domination of one group over another, or other similar inhumane acts that intentionally cause serious suffering or serious endangering of health, or whoever commits any of the above mentioned offences shall be punished with imprisonment of minimum five years or imprisonment of thirty to forty years. In the explanation of the proposal for the amendments of the Criminal Code that was submitted to the National Assembly, it is stated that relevant changes of the law are consequences of the alignment of the Criminal Code with international agreements in a way that criminal offence crimes against humanity (Article 371 of the Criminal Code) is expanded to enforced disappearances by which the alignment with the International Convention on protection of all persons from enforced disappearances was fulfilled.

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Objective 2: Enhanced institutional and administrative capacities of the state bodies involved in the process of determining the fate of missing persons, and their mutual cooperation.

Activities:

Perform the analysis of the organizational structure and status of the support service (persons permanently engaged in the Commission’s work) with the aim of improving efficiency and sustainability in the context of volume and specificity of tasks within the Commission’s purview.



Update, March 2018:

In the period from 1 January to 30 April 2018, in accordance with the conclusions of the Commission for approval for new employment and further engagement in public funds, we have hired two persons under the contract of temporary part-time jobs.

Initial report:

At the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, the Missing Person Division, as an internal organizational unit, is systemized, employing for an indefinite period of time 4 civil servants (persons permanently engaged in the Commission’s work).

Taking into account that in this period the prohibition of employment of persons for an indefinite period of time was in effect, we applied to the Commission for its consent to new employment and additional work engagement at public funds beneficiaries, and therefore in accordance with the Conclusion of this Commission in the period between September 1 st and December 31st, 2017 we engaged one person for a definite period of time due to an increased volume of work, and four persons under contracts for temporary and occasional work.

In view of the fact that the President of the Republic of Serbia has announced the extension of the mandate of the Commission on Missing Persons also to killed persons, in 2018 will be conducted a detailed analyses of the organizational structure and position of the expert service and, in accordance with this, the Rulebook on Internal Job Organization and Systematization at the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, Missing Persons Division, will be amended.

Improve mutual cooperation of the Commission on Missing Persons and other state bodies involved in the process of investigation and prosecution of war crimes for the purpose of enhancing the exchange of data of importance for establishing the fate of missing persons, through periodically organized round tables where identified issues would be discussed and recommendations for more efficient acting and communication specified.

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Time limit: periodically (at least once per year)


Update, March 2018:

After all of the participants in the round table agreed to the proposal, on 27 December 2017, The Expert Group was formed to solve cases of missing persons in the former Yugoslavia (hereinafter referred to as Expert Group), in order to improve the relationship between the state involved in the process of investigation and prosecution of war crimes, and to accelerate the exchange of data that are important for discovering the fate of missing persons. All state bodies whose representatives participated in the round table included in the work of the Expert Group at the request of the Commission submitted the names of representatives who are appointed as members of the Expert Group. An expert group composed of representatives from the following government bodies: the Commission for Missing Persons, the Office of the War Crimes Chamber, the Ministry of Interior - Office of the War Crimes Investigation, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defense, Military Intelligence Agency (VOA), Military Security Agency (VBA) and Security Information Agency (BIA).

At the constituent meeting of the Expert Group on 15 and 16 March 2018 all members were informed about the goals and objectives defined by the act on organization and methods of the tasks of the Expert Group, as well as other issues of importance for its work. Also, they were introduced to the material which is the basis for the operation of the Expert Group, which is related to the open request from R Serbia and R Croatia and R Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the list of missing persons of R Serbia, R Croatian and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other available information and documentation that may help to resolve the cases of missing persons.In order to editing the mutual cooperation between the Commission for missing persons and the OWCP (hereinafter referred to as Prosecution), respectively, in order to ensure continuity in the exchange of data and information, coordination of activities and identification of the procedure in accordance with which co-operation would taking place, agreed the draft text of the Memorandum of Understanding, which will be signed in April this year by the President of the Commission and the Prosecutor.

In the period December 2017 - March 2018, one meeting of the Working Group was held to gather the facts and evidence in the investigation of crimes against Serbian people and other ethnic communities in Kosovo and several working meetings of Analytical Team.

Initial report:

The Commission on Missing Persons organized an inter-ministerial meeting (round table) for the purpose of enhancing the cooperation between the Commission and other government bodies involved in the process of investigation and prosecution of war crimes, with the aim of enhancing the exchange of data of importance for establishing the fate of missing persons. The meeting was

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held on November 30th and December 1st, 2017 in Fruška gora, supported by the UNDP. The meeting was attended by: the prosecutor and assistant prosecutor on behalf of the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor, representatives of the Ministry of Justice, MoI – War Crime Discovery Service, Ministry of Defence, Security Information Agency, Military Security Agency, Military Intelligence Agency and Commission on Missing Persons. On this occasion, two session were held in which were discussed the reasons for setting up the Expert Group and modalities of cooperation and information exchange between the institutions, and a proposal for work of the Expert Group, including goals and objectives relevant to the implementation of the National Strategy, was prepared, which will be in the next meeting adopted by all representatives of the government bodies included in the Expert Group work.

The Committee for Kosovo and Metohija of the National Assembly in its Tenth Session held on October 19th, 2015, rendered the Decision on setting up the Working Group for gathering facts and evidence in clearing up the crimes committed against the Serbian people and other national communities in Kosovo and Metohija. The Working Group is composed of the chairperson, members and deputy members of the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija, as well as of representatives of the government bodies (Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor, MoI – War Crimes Discovery Service, Commission on Missing Persons, Group for Judiciary, Human Rights and Property and Legal Issues at the Office for Kosovo and Metohija). The task of the Working Group is to intensively gather the facts and evidence, which may assist in clearing up the crimes against the Serbs and other national communities. Within the Working Group is set up an expert intelligence team with the aim to integrate and systemize the types of crimes by zones of responsibility of the terrorist KLA, and to integrate the data bases held by the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor, MoI – War Crimes Discovery Service, Commission on Missing Persons, Safety Information Agency, Military Safety Agency and Military Intelligence Agency.

The Committee for Kosovo and Metohija will deliver the facts and evidence so gathered through the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor to the Special Court for KLA Crimes.

Objective 3: Enhancement of regional and broader international cooperation in the field of determining the fate of missing persons.

Activities:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiates the procedure for the signing and becoming party to the Agreement on the Establishment of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) granting the Commission the status of an international organization.



Initial report:

The status of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has been changed, taking into account that on December 15th, 2014, the Netherlands, the Great Britain, Belgium,

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Luxemburg and Sweden concluded the Agreement on the Status and Functions of the International Commission for Missing Persons (Framework Agreement), providing for that it should become an international organization with a seat in the Hague. The Agreement came in force as of May 10th, 2015, after ratified by Sweden and the Great Britain. The Framework Agreement was open for signing to all states by December 16 th, 2015, while after this date the states were able only to access thereto. For establishing the seat of the ICMP in the Hague it was necessary to conclude a separate agreement concerning the seat, and the Dutch Parliament prior to this had had to ratify the Framework Agreement.

In accordance with the above mentioned, on December 16th, 2015 in the Hague, the Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to the Netherlands, on behalf of the Government, as a representative of the Republic of Serbia, signed the Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and the International Committee on Missing Persons on the status and functions of the ICMP.

During December 2016, the Commission prepared a Draft Law on Ratification of the Agreement on the Status and Functions of the ICMP and the same was ratified by the National Assembly on May 29th, 2017 and came in force for the Republic of Serbia as of August 20th, 2017.

The Government encourages the Commission on Missing Persons of the Republic of Serbia to establish, in cooperation with the EU, ICMP and other international organizations, funds and donors, a special cash fund for the support of competent state bodies in obtaining all available data on the location of gravesites of the persons still missing.



Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

The site research and exhumation of remains in the territory of the Central Serbia are conducted as ordered by the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor and the High Court for War Crimes. The Commission on Missing Persons for these activities provides all logistic support and refunds all costs, not only out of the budget funds allocated for the Commission’s work, but also out of donation funds through approved projects, namely from: the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation, Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway, Embassy of the Great Britain and Embassy of Finland.

As far as establishing of a special cash fund for support of competent state bodies in obtaining all available data on the locations of gravesites of the persons still missing, the Commission on Missing Persons has been carrying out consultations and preparation of particular documents, in order to implement these activities in compliance with legal procedures.

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6. COOPERATION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

Objective 1: Intensifying of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals so that evidence on committed war crimes is transferred to the national judiciary and priority cases opened on the basis of such evidence.

Activities:

Fully access and examine the archive of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (relating to the war crimes committed in the territory of the Former Yugoslavia, and which contains documents not only from Serbia, but also from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia), analyze the discovered documents through appointed liaison officers on the basis of the EU project ensuring that all priority and serious allegations of war crimes are adequately prosecuted in accordance with the prosecutorial strategy.

Identify the materials and evidence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals relevant for the priority cases as part of the activities and hand over to the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor the discovered documents and evidence from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals.



Update, March 2018:

Research into the ICTY/MICT archives – including the databases of the ICTY/MICT Prosecutor's Office – continued throughout the past period. Part of the research is done by the OWCP Liaison Officer assigned to the MICT Prosecutor's Office, whereas the rest of the work lies with the case administrators who have access to the Electronic Disclosure System. The OWCP Liaison Officer is responsible for the identification of evidentiary items and other relevant documents, their verification for use in cases handled by the OWCP and their timely delivery to this Office.

Initial report:

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The OWCP is permanently committed to the enhancement of cooperation with the ICTY/MICT Prosecutor’s Office. As a result of the EC-sponsored project Visiting National Prosecutors, which has been conducted with the Office of the ICTY Prosecutor since 2009, the OWCP has its representative, i.e. ’liaison officer’ at the Office of the ICTY/MICT Prosecutor. On his/her own initiative or upon the OWCP instructions, the liaison officer searches the Office of the ICTY/MICT Prosecutor’s databases for materials that are subsequently used as information/data/evidence in cases handled by the OWCP. Additionally, the liaison officer submits to the Office of the ICTY/MICT Prosecutor requests for the provision of such documentation/information which is not directly accessible to the liaison officer. On his/her part, the liaison officer acts as a mediator in communication and information exchange between the OWCP and the Office of the ICTY/MICT Prosecutor. Beside the OWCP liaison officer’s presence at the Office of the ICTY/MICT Prosecutor, direct cooperation is encouraged through periodical operational meetings dedicated to the determination of further concrete steps and harmonization of the dynamics of upcoming activities. The first in a series of such meetings was held on the Hague-based ICTY premises on 02 August 2017. The subsequent meeting took place at the OWCP seat on 09 October 2017. On 01 November 2017, the OWCP hosted ICTY Prosecutor Serge Brammertz during his fact-finding visit in the framework of the preparation of his six-monthly report to the UN Security Council.

The Republic of Serbia shall endeavor to maintain good practice of the transfer of knowledge and experience from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, to gain both general knowledge and specific knowledge about individual cases.



Update, March 2018:

As described in the previous passage.

Initial report:


The Republic of Serbia shall endeavor to maintain good practice of ad hoc presence of the advisors from the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor in the offices of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals related to the national cases, as well as the analysis of the case files of the Office of the Prosecutor of the Tribunal and development of a plan for specific cases to be prosecuted before the Higher Court in Belgrade.

Time limit: Periodically

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Update, March 2018:

The OWCP has continuous and intense cooperation with the Office of the MICT Prosecutor. This cooperation is realized and enhanced through the OWCP Liaison Officer assigned to the Mechanism, but also through regular periodical meetings. Held at prosecutorial level (OWCP Prosecutor – MICT Chief Prosecutor), these meetings are dedicated to the shaping of the principal directions of joint work and to the harmonization of operating activities. On the other hand, working meetings and consultations at the level of case administrators (OWCP deputy prosecutors – MICT prosecutors / investigators) are intended for the exchange of evidence, expertise and good practices.

Initial report:


7.REGIONAL AND BROADER INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

7.1. Regional Cooperation

Objective 1:

The Republic of Serbia shall invest efforts to develop normative regulation of the issues of regional cooperation in regard to prosecuting war crimes, as well as other related issues.

Activities:

The Ministry of Justice will initiate a regional conference to achieve an intergovernmental agreement (signed and ratified international treaty) with the Republic of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro on the following open issues:

1) establishing regional rules on the division of jurisdiction for proceeding in war crimes cases;

2) enhancement of regional cooperation with regard to proceeding upon letters of request in war crimes cases;

3) setting up a facilitated procedure for obtaining evidence in the territory of another state by defense attorneys in war crimes cases;

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4) uniform proceeding of states in the region with regard to determining the fate of missing persons.



Update, March 2018:

In the reporting period, a meeting between the representatives of the Ministry of Justice and representatives of the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation was held. Discussion was related to the subject of the conference as well as to the possible attendants to the conference. The official confirmation of the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation on support to the organization of the regional conference is to be provided.

Initial report:

There is a ongoing process of consultations between the Ministry of Justice and the Embassy of Switzerland related to the providing of support to the organization of conference.

The Ministry of Justice will establish a working group to prepare proposals of topics and normative issues for the Regional Conference.



Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

The working group is to be established after funds necessary for the organization of the conference are ensured.

Objective 2: Proceeding upon letters of request of the Republic of Serbia sent to the states in the region is improved through joint action of the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor and the Ministry of Justice, and the number of cases in which the evidence is exchanged between prosecutors’ offices through regional cooperation is increased.

Activities:

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The Office of War Crimes Prosecutor will initiate the continuation of the Palić Process 4 with the presence of international observers, as well as regular quarterly meetings between regional prosecutors to discuss specific submitted cases and issues arising in regional cooperation in relation to those cases, with the presence of the representatives of international organizations.



Update, March 2018:

The OWCP remains committed to cooperation with competent prosecution services across the region. Following a series of bilateral meetings held during the 4th quarter of 2017, the second session of regional consultations was held in Sarajevo on 30 January 2018. The event was attended by representatives of all regional prosecution services, namely the Offices of the BH Prosecutor, Croatian State Prosecutor, Montenegrin Special State Prosecutor and Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor. Organized within the framework of the UNDP-facilitated regional project Enhancing Regional Cooperation in the Processing of War Crimes and the Search for Missing Persons (2017 – 2019), these meetings, i.e. consultations are dedicated to the harmonization of main pathways of cooperation, whereas the exchange of information and coordination of joint work on concrete cases are addressed at bilateral meetings.

Likewise, the OWCP does its best to promptly respond to requests for assistance received from their counterparts in the region. The OWCP did respond to requests which had some formal irregularities, i.e. those not filed in accordance with the request format as prescribed by the relevant cooperation acts.

Here is the statistical overview of the requests for assistance exchanged during the reporting period, including those realized in November and December 2017:

Оut of 19 requests for assistance received from the BH Prosecutor, the OWCP positively answered to 4, negatively answered to 4, and the remaining 11 are still pending. On the other hand, out of 3 OWCP requests for assistance, the BH Prosecutor positively responded to 1 and failed to respond to 2 such requests.

Оut of 7 requests for assistance received from the Croatian State Prosecutor, the OWCP positively answered to 1, negatively answered to 1 and the remaining 5 requests are still pending. On its part, the Office of the Croatian State Prosecutor

4 Under the auspices of OSCE, towards the end of 2004 a need for the representatives of the judiciaries in the region to meet at the regional level was recognized. The first meeting was held in November 2004 on the topic of cooperation between the states in prosecuting war crimes. The meeting agreed on concrete steps to be undertaken by representatives of the state in order to strengthen regional cooperation in this field. Such mechanism, in the meantime, became known as the “Palić Process”.

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granted assistace in 1 out of 6 requests filed by the OWCP during the reporting period, and failed to answer to the remaining 5.

In the course of the reporting period, the OWCP received no requests for assistance from the EULEX Special Prosecutor in Priština. Pursuant to the Procedures of Mutual Legal Assistance, the OWCP filed 8 requests for assistance to the EULEX Special Prosecutor, but did not receive a single positive response.

Initial report:

The OWCP remains committed to the enhancement of regional cooperation. In the light of such commitment, the War Crimes Prosecutor initiated bilateral meetings with regional prosecution services’ chief prosecutors.

The first in a series of such meetings was with the Croatian State Prosecutor, held in Zagreb on 27 July 2017. A meeting with the BH Acting Prosecutor was held in Belgrade on 02 October 2017. Those meetings were dedicated to the harmonization of views regarding future regional cooperation. A bilateral meeting with the Montenegrin Specil Prosecutor has been scheduled for 14 December 2017.

On 27 October 2017, a UNDP-facilitated meeting of regional prosecutors was organized in Belgrade. The next meeting dedicated to the enhancement of regional cooperation, which has been scheduled for March 2018, could be an opportunity for the War Crimes Prosecutor to initiate steps towards the unification of judicial practices. However, the War Crimes Prosecutor cannot initiate the creation of a unified regional database involving all trials addressing war crimes in the former Yugoslav territory, given that the creation of such a database should be linked to courts rather than to prosecution services. Virtually on a daily basis, the OWCP responds to requests for international legal assistance sought by competent prosecution services from countries in the region. The Act on International Legal Assistance, as well as the existing bilateral cooperation acts, provide grounds for such cooperation. Thus, in the period from February 2016 to the time of reporting, out of 116 requests received from the BH Prosecutor’s Office, the OWCP has responded to 91. The assistance has been effectuated on the basis of the following: Memorandum of Agreement on the Realization and Promotion of Cooperation in Fighting All Forms of Grave Crimes; and Protocol of Cooperation in Prosecuting Perpetrators of War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and Genocide. Out of 86 requests for international legal assistance received from the Croatian State Prosecutor, the OWCP has responded to 53. Out of three such requests received from the Montenegrin Special Prosecutor, the OWCP has responded to one. On the other hand, the BH Prosecutor’s Office has responded to 47 out of 68 OWCP requests for international legal assistance. Out of 43 OWCP requests sent to the Croatian State prosecutor, 27 have been responded. Finally, the Office of the Montenegrin Special Prosecutor has responded to both of the OWCP requests for international legal assistance.

None of the 19 OWCP requests sent to the EULEX Prosecutor in Priština have been responded. On its part, the OWCP has responded to 7 out of 10 such requests received from the EULEX Prosecutor.

When it comes to cooperation with the ICTY over the reporting period, the OWCP fully responded to all requests for international legal assistance.

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The Office of War Crimes Prosecutor will initiate the establishment of joint records of war crimes cases at the regional level the resolving of which commenced through regional cooperation, to enable monitoring of the successfulness of cooperation.



Update, March 2018:

At the upcoming regional consultations held within the UNDP-facilitated regional project Enhancing Regional Cooperation in the Processing of War Crimes and the Search for Missing Persons (2017 – 2019), the War Crimes Prosecutor will initiate the establishment of a common regional database of the war crimes cases opened through regional cooperation.

Initial report:


The Office of War Crimes Prosecutor will promote the establishment of joint cross-border investigative prosecutorial teams with the countries of the region as a method to achieve better cooperation.



Update, March 2018:

Bearing in mind the effectiveness of the present cooperation, the OWCP will – in addition to the initiative for the creation of joint investigative teams with competent regional prosecutions as needed in concrete cases – promote the creation of joint cross-border investigative teams as an additional form of international legal assistance.

Initial report:

In accordance with specific needs in individual cases, the War Crimes Prosecutor will initiate the creation of joint investigative teams with competent regional prosecutions, as has already been done in the context of the Štrpci, Srebrenica and Sotin cases.

The War Crimes Prosecutor will report to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on each case of failure of his regional counterparts to execute its letter of

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request or act upon his information and evidence on war crimes and perpetrators. The Ministry of Justice will immediately react upon each of these reports by addressing its regional counterpart. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will also react to such cases in the appropriate diplomatic manner, with the aim of drawing the attention of international organizations and relevant stakeholders in the field of mutual legal assistance in international criminal law.

The Republic of Serbia will continue to promote the idea of regional cooperation to ensure the effective prosecution of war crimes, when necessary, under the supervision of the EU, the EUROJUST Genocide Network the prosecutors of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, the UNDP Regional Office for Cooperation and the NGO sector to closely monitor the investigative results and war crimes proceedings in the former Yugoslavia.



Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

In case of the competent regional prosecutions’ failure to respond to the OWCP requests for assistance, the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor tries to overcome such issues through direct contacts with relevant counterparts. In case such an issue cannot be resolved in direct communication, the War Crimes Prosecutor will provide timely notification thereof to the Serbian Justice Ministry, which in turn is expected to undertake relevant measures and activities within the scope of its competence.

Cooperation among state authorities of the states in the region is based on the bilateral agreements. Republic of Serbia has concluded bilateral agreements that regulate deferent forms of legal aid and acting on the requests for legal aid in war crimes cases as follows:

- Agreement on legal aid in civil and criminal matters concluded in 1997 between Republic of Serbia and Republic of Croatia;

- Agreement on extradition concluded in 2010 between Republic of Serbia and Republic of Croatia;

- Agreement on legal aid in civil and criminal matters concluded in 2005 between Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with its amendments dated in 2005;

- Agreement on extradition concluded in 2013 between Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Cooperation among judicial authorities in the region is based on the legal acts concluded among Office of War Crime Prosecutor and Prosecution offices in the region as follows:

- Memorandum on understanding in achivment and improvement of the mutual cooperation in combating of all serious forms of crime concluded on 05.02.2005 between the Republic Public Prosecution Office, the Office of War Crime Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia and the State Prosecution Office of the Republic of Croatia;

- Memorandum on understanding in achivment and improvement of the mutual cooperation in combating of all serious forms of crime concluded on 01.07.2005 between the Republic Public Prosecution Office, the Office of War Crime Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia and the Prosecution Office of the Bosnia and Herzegovina;

- Memorandum on understanding in prosecution of offenders of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide concluded on 12.10.2006 between the Office of War Crime Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia and the State Prosecution Office of the Republic of Croatia;

- Protocol on understanding in prosecution of offenders of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide concluded on 31.01.2013 with the Prosecution Office of the Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Existing contractual status gives a possibility for diferent forms of legal aid (delivering of court and non court documents and fullfilment of some procedural actions) but requests for take over and transfer of cases, requests for adoption and enforcement of foreign court verdicts as well as transfer of the convicted persons and extradition of offenders and convicted persons are frequent.Ministry of Justice is the central authority for receiving and forwarding of the requests for legal aid, and therefore Ministry of Justice is responding on the requests for legal aid. Acting on requests for legal aid in war crimes cases is urgent.

Objective 3: Enhanced cooperation with the judicial bodies of the provisional institutions of Kosovo and Metohija5.

Activities:

Improving cooperation between the judicial authorities of the Republic of Serbia and of the Service for War Crimes with the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in Pristina, conducted fully in accordance with Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Serbia 05 No 018-1862 / 2013-1 of 07.03.2013, through which the text Procedure of mutual legal assistance was adopted.


Activity is being successfully implemented.5 This designation is without prejudice to the status of Kosovo in accordance with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

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Update, March 2018:

Evidence and information related to issues of mutual interest were exchanged at a meeting held on 18 December 2017.

Since – despite two urgent pleas – the provisional self-government authorities in Priština failed to respond to the OWCP request for mutual legal assistance filed in compliance with the Procedures of Mutual Legal Assistance adopted by the Serbian Government’s Conclusion of 07 March 2013, the War Crimes Prosecutor asked the EULEX Prosecutor to facilitate the realization of its request. In case the OWCP receives no response to its request within reasonable time, the War Crimes Prosecutor will notify the Justice Minister about the Priština provisional authorities’ failure to comply with the Procedures.

Initial report:

In line with the Serbian Government’s Conclusion of 07 March 2013, the OWCP communication with the provisional self-government authorities in Priština is conducted through EULEX. The War Crimes Prosecutor has regular meetings with her EULEX counterpart, which are aimed at the harmonization of current issues. The War Crimes Prosecutor had two meetings with EULEX representatives, and their next meeting has been scheduled for 18 December 2017.

7.2. International Cooperation

Objective 1: Enhanced international cooperation through the presentation of work of the national judicial bodies.

Activities:

Active participation of judges and public prosecutors who handle war crimes cases in seminars on international humanitarian law and professional conferences, among other things, to present local case law and overall achievements of our judicial bodies in this area, which would make the results of the Serbian judiciary an integral part of a broader corps of international criminal case law, brought to the attention of international experts. The Ministry of Justice, in cooperation with the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor and High Judicial Council, will invest efforts to secure financial support of the project of translating domestic judgments (or relevant parts thereof) into the English language, so that they can be included in the Legal Tools Project, the electronic data base of all legal documents of international criminal law existing on the web site of the International Criminal Court.



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Update, March 2018:

No relevant activities were undertaken during the reporting period.

Initial report:

On 22 June 2017, at the invitation of the Post-Conflict Research Centre, the War Crimes Prosecutor visited Sarajevo, where she attended the ICTY Conference on Peace Education and Genocide Prevention, which should facilitate the maintenance of peace and creation of sustainable democracy in the region.

On 30 August 2017, the OWCP took part in the Media Conference at the event marking the International Day of Missing Persons, organized in commemoration of victims and their families. On 13 and 14 October 2017, the War Crimes Prosecutor visited Pula, where she attended the Conference entitled “The Destruction of Cultural Heritage, Postwar Reconstruction and Building of Confidence“.

As part of the Serbian Government’s Human & Minority Rights Office delegation, an OWCP representative was present at the 94th session of the UN Anti-Racial Discrimination Committee, which was held in Geneva in November 2017. Based on the concluding observations on the Republic of Serbia’s combination of periodical reports (2-5), the Anti-Racial Discrimination Committee welcomed the 2016 National War Crimes Prosecution Strategy as a highly positive development.

The OWCP will provide timely support to the Justice Ministry in its efforts to secure funds for the translation of national judgments into English, as such translated versions could be included into the Legal Tools Project, the electronic database of all legal documents in the area of International Criminal Law.

8. OUTREACH

Objective 1: Easier access to information on war crimes trials

Activities:

Increased frequency of acting by presidents of the competent courts in accordance with Article 16a of the Law on the Organization and Jurisdiction of Government Authorities in War Crimes Proceedings;


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Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

Decisions related to the submitted requests are issued.

Improvement of the web site of the High Court in Belgrade, where all the necessary information about the judgments in war crimes cases will be publicly available, with a gradual increase of the numbers of the actual decisions (in accordance with measures to improve the availability of case law provided by the Action Plan for Chapter 23), fully respecting the rules of personal data protection;

Time limit: Continuously .


Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

The judgments of the Department for War Crimes of the Higher Court in Belgrade are publicly available. Time when the judgment is to be publicly available is shown on the web presentation of the Higher Court in Belgrade. Information related to the judgments of the Department for War Crimes of the Higher court in Belgrade are published by the Appellate court in Belgrade after judgments are final.

Regular publishing of substantive reports on the work of judicial institutions responsible for prosecuting war crimes;



Update, March 2018:

The form and contents of the OWCP web presentation have been improved in order to update the public on the ongoing OWCP activities related to particular cases, on the implementation of relevant strategic documents and on other developments of importance for the work of this

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Office. Due to its multiple advantages, the OWCP web page – with its continuous improvements – is the major source of information and a reliable instrument for the presentation of data relevant to the OWCP performance, free and accessible at any time.

In order to inform those interested in access to the facts concerning the contents, extent and manner of exercising their rights, the OWCP web page offers the electronic version of the Information Booklet about its work, which is updated in accordance with current developments.

In view of the interest of international judicial institutions and other international partners in the OWCP work, and given the importance of information about its cases for legal professionals and the scientific community beyond Serbia, the overall contents of the OWCP web page are also available in the English language.

The Supreeme Court of Cassation is publishing the decisions in the war crimes matters on its web site. Some of decisions are a part of the Bulletin of the Supreeme Court of Cassation number 2: (http://www.vk.sud.rs/sites/default/files/attachments/Bilten%20VKS%202-2017.pdf).

According to the report of the president of the Appelate Court in Belgrade dated on 30th March 2018, all decisions on the complaints have been published on the website of the Appelate Court in Belgrade in the section “Case law”.

In accordance with the letter of the president of the Higher Court in Belgrade, Su VII 241/18 dated on 27th March 2018, a review of the penalties policy in the war crimes proceedings for 2015, 2016 and 2017 has been published on the website of the Higher Court in Belgrade.Initial report:

The OWCP improved its internet presentation, which now offers updated information to those interested in the OWCP activities in proceedings regarding particular criminal cases.

On 22 June 2017, at the invitation of the Post-Conflict Research Centre, the War Crimes Prosecutor visited Sarajevo, where she attended the ICTY Conference on Peace Education and Genocide Prevention, which should facilitate the maintenance of peace and creation of sustainable democracy in the region.

On 30 August 2017, the OWCP took part in the Media Conference at the event marking the International Day of Missing Persons, organized in commemoration of victims and their families.

On 13 and 14 October 2017, the War Crimes Prosecutor visited Pula, where she attended the Conference entitled “The Destruction of Cultural Heritage, Postwar Reconstruction and Building of Confidence“.

As part of the Serbian Government’s Human & Minority Rights Office delegation, an OWCP representative was present at the 94th session of the UN Anti-Racial Discrimination Committee, which was held in Geneva in November 2017. Based on the concluding observations on the Republic of Serbia’s combination of periodical reports (2-5), the Anti-Racial Discrimination

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http://www.vk.sud.rs/sites/default/files/attachments/Bilten%20VKS%202-2017.pdf

Committee welcomed the 2016 National War Crimes Prosecution Strategy as a highly positive development.

The OWCP promptly provides information/data sought by all stakeholders and relevant institutions such as the OSCE, Humanitarian Law Centre etc.

All requested information related to the work of the court are delivered in accordance with the requests filed by civil society organizations, OSCE or interested parties.

Regular publishing of reports on the implementation of all relevant strategic documents in the field of prosecuting war crimes (the Action Plan for Chapter 23, the National Strategy, the Strategy of the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor);



Update, March 2018:

Reports on the implementation of the National Strategy for Prosecution of War Crimes have been published on the website of the Ministry of Justice, on Serbian and in English, and the link is as follows:

https://www.mpravde.gov.rs/tekst/17978/izvestaj-o-sprovodjenju-nacionalne-strategije-za-procesuiranje-ratnih-zlocina.php

Initial report:

Starting from adoption of the Action Plan for Chapter 23, reports on implementation of the Action Plan for Chapter 23 are being published quarterly on the web page of the Ministry of Justice (https://www.mpravde.gov.rs/tekst/17033/izvestaj-br-32017-o-sprovodjenju-akcionog-plana-za-poglavlje-23.php).

The same practice related to the publishing of the reports for the Chapter 23 will be used to the publishing of the reports related to the implementation of the National Strategy for Prosecution of War Crimes.

The report on the previous activity is the same for this activity.

With the support of the Council for the implementation of the Action Plan for Chapter 23 and the Negotiating Group for Chapter 23, the inclusion of representatives of the institutions responsible for the prosecution of war crimes in the mechanism of cooperation with civil society organizations through their participation in occasional meetings with the National Convent of the EU.


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https://www.mpravde.gov.rs/tekst/17033/izvestaj-br-32017-o-sprovodjenju-akcionog-plana-za-poglavlje-23.php

https://www.mpravde.gov.rs/tekst/17033/izvestaj-br-32017-o-sprovodjenju-akcionog-plana-za-poglavlje-23.php


Update, March 2018:.

The draft version of the Prosecutorial Strategy for War Crimes Investigation and Processing 2018 – 2023 was presented at an expert meeting held on 12 March 2018. The meeting was attended by judges, prosecutors and lawyers as well as representatives of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Humanitarian Law Centre, and Belgrade Human Rights Centre.

Initial report:

By the decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia the representative of the civil society has been appointed as a member of the Working group for monitoring of the implementation of the National Strategy for Prosecution of War Crimes.

Objective 2: Enhancement of capacity of media professionals for appropriate reporting on war crimes proceedings.

Activities:

Periodical organization of courses, workshops and trainings for journalists reporting on war crimes trials, in cooperation with media organizations, judicial institutions and international organizations, where, with the help of judges, public prosecutors and independent experts, they would acquire additional skills to facilitate provision of public information on war crimes proceedings.



Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

The subject activities have not yet been implemented.

Objective 3: Improvement of the curricula in the manner that allows the students/pupils to obtain a sufficient quantity of relevant information on the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, war crimes committed during that time, and norms of the international humanitarian law.

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Activities:

In accordance with activities 3.8.1.9. and 3.8.1.10. of the Action Plan for Chapter 23, the quality and content of the curriculum that tackles issues related to the history of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and the crimes that were committed during those conflicts, is continuously monitored and upgraded in accordance with the mechanisms of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. These mechanisms include the active role of the National Education Council, the Institute for Improvement of Education, the Institute for Evaluation of Education and Training, and in particular the National Councils of National Minorities in the process of granting the status of textbooks, bearing in mind the principles of tolerance, non-discrimination, reconciliation and the need to build good neighborly relations.



Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

By the implementation of the Action Plan on Protection of the National Minorities, Republic of Serbia is taking numerous measures for prevention of expanding of the hate speech through the media and social networks, through increased number of activities in media disapproving the hate speech. Independent analysis/studies confirm that the number of cases of hate speeches through the media and social network is reduced. In addition, there is ongoing drafting procedure of the analysis that includes comparative analysis on educational models for the education in national minorities languages in the EU, analysis of the current situation in the Republic of Serbia and recommendations for implementation of new models.

Objective 4: Public presentation of the National Strategy as the tool to express firm and unequivocal commitment of the Republic of Serbia to undertake measures preventing impunity of war crimes.

Activities:

Publishing of the National Strategy text on the website of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Justice, the Office of War Crimes Prosecutor, the Higher Court and Court of Appeal in Belgrade.


Activity is almost completely implemented.

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Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

National Strategy text has been published on the websites of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Justice and Office of War Crimes Prosecutor.

Following the adoption of this National Strategy, the highest State officials, led by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice, will publicly declare their support for the work of all domestic bodies dealing with the war crimes issues, for the fight against impunity and for the respect for the rule of law.


Activity is fully implemented.Initial report:

The president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Minister of Justice have shown its delight and they have publicly given a support to all state authorities that deal with detection, investigation and prosecution of war crimes.

Members of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and MPs, in accordance with the provisions of the newly adopted Code of Conduct for members of the Government and MPs, refrain from unauthorized commentaries of the work of the judiciary.



Update, March 2018:

Unchanged.

Initial report:

Code of conduct for members of Parliament (MPs) relating to restrictions on commenting on judicial decisions and proceedings is adopted on July 20, 2017, and published in “Official Gazette RS No 71/17”.

The Government has adopted the Conclusion for passing the Code of conduct for Members of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, which regulates commenting judicial decisions and

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procedures on its 192nd meeting held on 23rd January 2016, at the proposal of the Ministry of Justice. The conclusion was published in the Official Gazette of RS, No. 6 on 28 January 2016.

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