The Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, said at today's public hearing entitled "Every child has the right to childhood, let's stop child marriage", organized by the Parliamentary Committee for Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality, that unions between minors slow down their development and their ability to get an education, and that these unions are not an expression of the will of the children, but primarily of their parents or relatives. For this reason, the Protector of Citizens insists on preventing the formation of unions between minors, and points out that these unions are not, as many claim, traditionally linked exclusively to the Roma community, but are also a phenomenon in other national communities.

Pašalić added that the Roma community is a particularly discriminated community due to the fact that this community does not have a home country, and that special attention must be paid to the realization and improvement of the rights of Roma men and women.

The Protector of Citizens also wished a happy upcoming International Roma Day, which is celebrated on 8 April, as well as today's great Passover holiday to all members of the Jewish community in Serbia.

On 31 March 2023, the Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, and the Secretary General of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, Nikola Tarbuk, signed an Agreement on Cooperation with the aim of further improving the position of persons with disabilities and other vulnerable population groups in Serbia.

The signing of the agreement represents the continuation of the cooperation between the institution of the Protector of Citizens and the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) on the implementation of a public call for awarding an award for contribution to the development of all forms of accessibility to cities, municipalities and urban municipalities in the Republic of Serbia, established in 2016.

On that occasion, the Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, pointed out that by implementing a public call, he wants to encourage local self-governments to increase accessibility and remove information and communication barriers in their environment, as well as to promote good practice and exchange experiences at the local level.

Accessibility of spaces and services is very important in creating equal conditions for all our citizens in order for them to exercise their rights, be included in society and contribute to the development of the environment in which they live, and beyond, Pašalić pointed out.

The agreement is concluded for an indefinite period of time, and the parties to the agreement will establish an Award Commission, which will review the achieved results and present awards, recognitions, or commendations to the local self-government units that contributed the most to the development of accessibility in their territory, that is, in their surroundings in the previous calendar year.

Upon its own initiative, based on information from the media that in Jagodina a mother to five children died today due to injuries suffered after having been beaten by her extramarital partner who was arrested, the Protector of Citizens initiated the oversight procedure of legality and regularity of the operation of the City Center for Social Work there and Ministry of Interior.

The Protector of Citizens requires from Jagodina Center for Social Work to provide information not later than within 15 days if the extramarital partner and killed wife are in their records, if in the previous period there were reports of violence, if they were considered in the Group for coordination and cooperation with special emphasis on the measures and activities which the Center, in cooperation with other organs, potentially took in order to provide adequate support and protection to the victim of partner violence.

It requires from the Ministry of Interior to submit within the same deadline a detailed report on acting of competent police administration in this case, as well as on the realized cooperation with the competent center for social work, prosecutor’s office and other authorities upon earlier reports of partner violence, if they were filed as well as if such actions of police were in compliance with the obligations prescribed by the Law on prevention of domestic violence.

Today, the Protector of Citizens, on his own initiative, and based on media reports that in the Belgrade neighborhood of Mirijevo, a father kept his child in isolation in an apartment in poor hygienic conditions for years, but also that the family has been on the records of the Belgrade City Centre for Social Work since the birth of the child, launched an investigation to control the legality and regularity of work of six competent authorities and, in the spirit of good cooperation, requested information and court decisions from the First Basic Court in Belgrade.

The Protector of Citizens requests from the City Centre for Social Work in Belgrade, two of whose departments – Palilula and Zvezdara – worked with the family, to provide him within 15 days at the latest with data on the activities of those departments in their previous work with the family, bearing in mind that the family was on the records of the centre since the birth of the child, as well as on the activities they undertook to protect the child after learning that the child was a victim of violence and parental neglect. The city centre should also provide information on whether the child attended a preschool program, whether she is now attending elementary school, and whether the guardianship authority has taken measures to enable the child to exercise her right to education.

The Protector of Citizens then asked the Zvezdara and Palilula health care centres to inform him within the same period whether the child was treated in these institutions, whether the health care workers have so far noticed signs of violence or parental neglect regarding the child's health status (among other things, whether she was properly vaccinated) and whether violence or neglect has been reported to other competent institutions.

The Protector of Citizens asked the Administration of the City Municipality of Zvezdara to inform him whether the child is attending an elementary school, whether she previously attended a preparatory pre-school program, and whether, in connection with this information, the Administration undertook activities within its jurisdiction if the child was denied the exercise of her rights to education and upbringing by the actions of her parent.

Also, the Protector of Citizens requested the Ministry of Family Welfare and Demography to carry out extraordinary expert supervision over the work of the City Centre for Social Work in Belgrade – Palilula and Zvezdara Departments, and to submit the results of the supervision to him no later than 15 days from the day it was conducted.

Also, the Protector of Citizens asked the Ministry of Interior to inform him within 15 days at the latest about the activities undertaken on reports in the previous period, as well as the activities undertaken after learning that the child was a victim of violence and parental neglect.

In the spirit of good cooperation, and bearing in mind that according to media reports, the competent centre initiated the procedure of deprivation of parental rights for both parents, and the court made a decision to entrust the child to the father for the independent exercise of parental rights, the Protector of Citizens requested from the First Basic Court in Belgrade to provide him with information on all the proceedings that have been conducted or are currently being conducted before that court in connection with this case, and if the proceedings have ended, to provide copies of court decisions.