The report, created by the platform “prEUgovor”, is a result of scrupulous monitoring of the progress made in the areas related to obligations contained in political criteria and chapters 23 and 24, both in terms of legislative changes and the implementation of adopted legislation. It covers developments from September 2013 to April 2014 and its main aim is to draw attention to major concerns related to targeted areas.
In the part related to the protection of human rights, the report states that there has not been significant improvement regarding protection of women from all forms of gender based violence. “The number of femicides increases every year, there are no emergency protection orders, criminal legislation needs to be harmonized with the CoE Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.” It is also stated that little or no progress has been made in either improvement of legal framework or its implementation in the previous period. “The most pressing issue is the adoption of the Law on Free Legal Aid, a basic prerequisite for ensuring access to justice. Existing proposal of Law on Free Legal Aid does not provide basic guarantees for protection of vulnerable groups such as victims of domestic violence or trafficking and it fails to provide for financing of these services.”
