Government of Serbia decided: Amendments to the Criminal Code...

Government of Serbia decided: Amendments to the Criminal Code...

The Government of the Republic of Serbia presented its conclusions after today's session, in which several changes to the law are proposed, after yesterday's massacre at the elementary school "Vladislav Ribnikar".

As Blic learns, among other things, a moratorium on issuing permits for keeping and carrying short firearms is proposed for two years, while the review of all issued permits for keeping weapons must be completed within three months.

Here are the decisions that were made:

- Within six months, complete the control of how persons with permits keep weapons, and in particular the control of whether the legal requirements for the safe storage and storage of weapons are met, whether weapons are stored separately from ammunition and whether access to weapons is adequately prevented and ammunition to minors and other unauthorized persons.

- Control of all shooting ranges on the territory of the Republic of Serbia - to be completed within 3 months, within a month to prepare regulations on the conditions and manner of using shooting ranges, including the ban on access to minors.

- The Ministry of Justice is ordered to prepare, within the framework of the existing Working Group for Amendments to the Criminal Code, amendments to the law that would prescribe criminal liability for persons who enable minors and other unauthorized persons to acquire firearms and who train minors and other unauthorized persons to handle firearms with weapons.

- The Ministry of Justice is ordered to consider the possibility of amending the Criminal Code in order to lower the age limit for criminal liability of minors from 14 to 12 years, while respecting international and European standards.

- The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health are ordered to cooperate, within a month, to prepare regulations that will enable the introduction of mandatory tests for narcotics in high schools and elementary schools for seventh and eighth grade students.

- Within ten days, the government will form a Council for the Prevention of Peer Violence, which will, among other things, ensure the organization of mobile teams for peer violence through protocols between centers for social work and other services (educational and health institutions, police) that would respond urgently to cases of peer violence and in consultation with unions of educational workers and associations of parents of students to consider the expediency of adopting a measure banning the use of mobile phones in schools.

- The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications are ordered to, in cooperation, within one month, consider the possibility of tightening sanctions for non-compliance with the prescribed obligations of media service providers, including the Internet and other electronic platforms as well as social networks, with regard to the banning of program content that highlights and supports violence, criminal and other illegal behavior, broadcasting scenes of brutal violence and other content that can seriously harm the physical, mental or moral development of minors.

- Within ten days, the government will form a working group for the safety of children on the Internet, which will consider the introduction of measures to ban access to websites (DARK NET and similar) that contain advice on how to commit murder, acquire drugs or firearms.