Ivana Stevanovic

In the first part of the paper the author discusses and interprets the results of research carried out in 1994, on the basis of interviews with 70 women refugees from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, presently situated in Serbia and Montenegro. Also, the first part of the paper was written as a result of the interviews which the group of authors conducted with 54 women refugees from Krajina in the period between 1 January 1995 and 15 March 1996 in Serbia, about their own definition of violence in war, which means that their subjective definition was given priority over the objective definition. This research was aimed at the analysis of women's experience of violence in the war conflict in our close vicinity, whose largest number of victims, as ever, were children and women. We tried to help the women to articulate their own experiences, in such a manner to avoid them being hurt in the process, but rather to relieve their burdens of piled up fears and emotions. In the second part of the paper the author evaluates the present situation in this area, especially the process of social adaptation.

Alternative criminal sanctions in modern criminal justice systems have proven to be a far better way of reacting society to easier forms of crime compared to prison sentences. In this paper, the authors analyzed two alternative criminal sanctions: community service and suspended sentence with protective supervision, in the context of the analysis of recidivism in the Republic of Serbia. The survey was conducted on a sample of 502 respondents which are during 2012 and 2013 served one of these two alternative criminal sanctions. Of the total number of respondents, 12% again committed a criminal offense (recidivism). Multivariate analysis showed that the only length of sanction and the outcome of the sanction were highlighted as significant predictors of recidivism. The convicted persons who were sentenced to a longer term sanction and those whose outcome of the alternative criminal sanction was unsuccessful will have a greater chance of recidivism. The results showed that the suitability of this model was good (χ2 = 3.699; p = .883) and regression was statistically significant (χ2 = 32.948; p = .000), although a relatively small percentage of recidivism (15%) was explained. Also, if these two sanctions are observed separately, a better effect in practice had a community service (11% of respondents recidivated) in comparison with suspended sentence with protective supervision (25.5% of respondents recidivated). The results are good and suggest that in practice the courts should moreover pronounce alternative criminal sanctions. It is also necessary that the Probation Service has sufficient personnel and financial resources for quality work with persons who have been sentenced to an alternative sentence.

This paper is dedicated to analyses of the protection of juveniles - victims of abuse and neglect in criminal legal system of the Republic of Serbia. Particular attention is paid to of criminal acts against sexual integrity and family life of juveniles. The position of juveniles as witnesses in the criminal procedure has been viewed from the aspect of specify and vulnerability of the child, as well as through terms of secondary and tertiary victimization of minor as a victim.

In the first part of the paper the author discusses and interprets the results of research carried out in 1994, on the basis of interviews with 70 women refugees from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, presently situated in Serbia and Montenegro. Also, the first part of the paper was written as a result of the interviews which the group of authors conducted with 54 women refugees from Krajina in the period between 1 January 1995 and 15 March 1996 in Serbia, about their own definition of violence in war, which means that their subjective definition was given priority over the objective definition. This research was aimed at the analysis of women's experience of violence in the war conflict in our close vicinity, whose largest number of victims, as ever, were children and women. We tried to help the women to articulate their own experiences, in such a manner to avoid them being hurt in the process, but rather to relieve their burdens of piled up fears and emotions. In the second ...

This article is based on national research conducted in Serbia by authors in the name of Belgrade Child Rights Centre as a part of international project “Children’s Rights Behind Bars – Human Rights of Children Deprived of Liberty: Improving Monitoring Mechanisms” coordinated by DCI Belgium and Juvenile Justice Project coordinated by International Management Group. The article intention is to present how the respect of children’s rights within places where children may be deprived of their liberty in the fled of Serbian Juvenile Justice System is monitored and how children can enforce their rights in case of violation.

Noting the importance of the topic of this paper the author gives an overview of relevant research in this area in the Republic of Serbia, the available data on children involved in the life or work on the streets, and emphasizes the risk factors that contribute to involving a child in the life and work on the streets and becoming a victim of abuse and exploitation. Taking into account the terminological inconsistency in this area, for this study the term ?children involved in life or work on the street? the author used, while stressing the need for clear terminology of the observed phenomenon, as well as clear definition and differentiation of the terms ?a child on the street? and ?a child from the street.? Based on the analysis of the current situation, the main goal of the paper is to indicate the areas for priority action and the necessity for a systemic response to this phenomenon.

Corporal punishment of children is a serious social problem and as such more and more recognized around the world and in recent years in our environment as well. The aim of this paper is to highlight the current contribution of experts of different profiles to the perception and understanding of these issues, as well as possible directions for their further, more active, professional and socially engaged involvement in its solving.

The authors indicate the necessity of explicit legal prohibition of all corporal punishment of children that represent a violation of the right of the child to respect his/her physical integrity and human dignity. The paper emphasizes why all corporal punishment of children should be prohibited and points out the progress made at the legislative level to the elimination of all corporal punishment of children in some member states of the Council of Europe and the Republic of Serbia.

The paper points out the importance of newly adopted international norms and standards that State Parties should undertake to aim a more adequate protection of children from sexual exploitation especially a pornography exploitation. A specific section of this paper is dedicated to the overview of the domestic criminal legislation framework regarding the protection of children victims of crimes related to their exploitation in pornography through abuse of computer systems and networks, and considering the recent changes in the criminal legislation in the Republic of Serbia. In this paper the author particularly analyses the compliance of certain provisions of the Criminal Code with the assumed international obligations.

In this paper the author denotes some of the new legal provisions contained in the Law on juvenile offenders and criminal protection of juveniles of the Republic of Serbia, in the light of both the reintegration of juvenile offenders and future more active role of a victim of crime committed by a juvenile offender - the role that would contribute to victim?s empowerment. Likewise, the author points out the importance of alternative sanctions, i.e. procedures and measures that should enable diversion from the classic criminal procedure, or its suspension. The article signifies the importance of noncustodial measures as alternatives to institutional treatment, in terms of the new provisions contained in the Law.

The paper considers the situation of children-victims of severe sexual violence in the criminal substantive and proceedings law of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia. Through the analysis of specific incriminations sanctioning the worst forms of sexual violence against children as well as the analysis of their proceedings situation, the paper presents necessary amendments in this domain and compliance of our criminal legal system with the contemporary comparative law solutions. At the same time, the paper offers suggestions of possible new solutions in this domain, in accordance with the right of the child to comprehensive protection of his/her sexual integrity.

Practice demonstrates the importance of raising awareness about the problem of violence against children as well as the necessity of full protection of the right to privacy of minors as participants of criminal proceedings. Journalists must have special knowledge in order to report on criminal justice proceedings dealing with minors. On the other hand, authorized representatives of departments and institutions that participate in criminal justice protection of minors must be trained to present information to the media in a manner that would hinder its random interpretation in public information resources. Furthermore, the author insists on the practical obligation of the state to take systemic measures in suppressing and protecting minors from violations of their right to privacy and the consistent sanctioning of any violation of this right by representatives of the media, as well as by professionals authorized for protection of the right to privacy of minors.