The Information Office for Injured Parties and Witnesses started working on 10 April 2014 at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade.

This Office was established as a part of a project that is being implemented with the support of the UK Embassy in Belgrade, as a pilot project at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, which processes the most serious criminal offences committed in the territory of the City of Belgrade.

The purpose of establishing this Office is to provide information to the parties injured by the committed criminal offences and the witnesses in the criminal proceedings on their rights and obligations, criminal proceedings and how to exercise their rights.

The establishment of this Office will enable the citizens who are involved in criminal proceedings as witnesses or injured parties to be fully informed in a timely manner and in accordance with the law, which will offer them greater satisfaction and increase their constructive involvement in the criminal proceedings already at the investigation stage.

Namely, since 1 October 2013 the new Criminal Procedure Code according to which the prosecutor’s office runs the investigation has been in application in the Republic of Serbia at the prosecutor’s offices and courts with general jurisdiction.

The establishment of this Office at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade is going to contribute to better communication and co-operation between the public prosecutor’s office and the injured parties and witnesses in the criminal proceedings, and consequently, to conducting investigations more efficiently which is of great importance for the criminal prosecution of criminal offences committed in the territory of our capital city.

The plan is to set up Information Offices for Injured Parties and Witnesses in other bigger cities in Serbia at a later stage in the development of this project, i.e. at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Offices in Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac.