Handling cases of domestic violence

On May 18-19 2017, Academy of Justice within its Continuous Training Program with the sup-port of OSCE conducted two regional trainings on the topic of “Handling cases of domestic vio-lence”.

Purpose of these trainings was to increase knowledge of the participants about legal provi-sions of the Law on domestic Violence, and on handling cases of domestic violence in the most professional way.

At the trainings it was elaborated on ways to cre-ate the case at the investigation stage by the po-lice, inclusion of the Victims Advocates and As-sistance Office, investigation by the State Prose-cutor, and the trial stage. It was further elaborat-ed on dilemmas that judges have during exami-nation of these cases, particularly in relation to the standard operation procedures for protection from domestic violence, precise application of legal provisions related to the procedure and timelines to decide upon writs and requests for protection order.

Furthermore, it was discussed about procedures for bringing judgments on requests for protec-tion orders, types of protection measures and their extent, execution and consequences of not executing the protection order.

Through presentation of practical examples from the case law, and the group discussions, partici-pants were provided alternatives to their prob-lems and practical difficulties, with adequate elaboration of the domestic violence cases.
Beneficiaries of these trainings were judges, prosecutors and professional associates, police representatives that deal with domestic violence, as well as victim protection officials from Mi-trovica and Prizren regions.