ASTRA has been selected a member of the Steering Committee of the project “Support to victims and witnesses of criminal offences in Serbia”, implemented by the Ministry of Justice in cooperation with the OSCE Mission in Serbia and with the support of the European Union. The aim of the project is the establishment of a national network of support services for victims and witnesses of criminal offences, as a part of the criminal judiciary in the Republic of Serbia. One of the most important activities is the development of a National strategy for victims’ rights and a supporting action plan to accompany the Strategy.
Based on the so far experience in the improvement of the victims’ of trafficking rights, ASTRA is one of the three civil society organizations, which have been selected, following a public call, to be members of the Steering Committee of the project. The Steering Committee is comprised of representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the High Court Council, the State Prosecutors Council, the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the Delegation of the European Union, the OSCE Mission in Serbia and non-governmental organizations – ASTRA, YUCOM and Serbian association for legal theory and practice.
Duties of the Steering Committee comprised the following:
- Participation in consultations related to needs for the project implementation,
- Providing advice during the project implementation,
- Reviewing and giving amendments to the project action plan,
- Proposing a strategy for the project implementation,
- Reviewing and commenting/providing suggestions to reports and providing opinion on mandatory reports from the contract,
- Implementation of the final project evaluation by commenting on the final report,
- Proposing a sustainability strategy and further activities.
We hope that this project will contribute to the advancement and more adequate protection of the rights of victims and witnesses in criminal proceedings.