{"id":208582,"date":"2026-04-27T15:49:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T13:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=208582"},"modified":"2026-04-27T15:51:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T13:51:38","slug":"slaps-are-going-into-history-amendments-to-the-family-law-adopted-physical-punishment-of-children-prohibited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/slaps-are-going-into-history-amendments-to-the-family-law-adopted-physical-punishment-of-children-prohibited\/","title":{"rendered":"SLAPS ARE GOING INTO HISTORY: Amendments to the Family Law adopted, physical punishment of children prohibited!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>The abolition of physical punishment of children through amendments to the Family Law has led to allegations that &#8220;the state is sending control into the home&#8221; and &#8220;criminally prosecuting for slaps and cuffs,&#8221; which, according to the relevant ministry, are incorrect and unacceptable. The public debate on the Draft Amendments to the law ended ten days ago, but the controversy does not subside. President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 requested that the Government carefully consider all objections.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amendments to the law, which has been in force for more than two decades, are urgent, according to the relevant ministry. It is necessary to harmonize it with ratified conventions and agreements, as well as with the report of the European Commission, which demands from Serbia an explicit ban on underage marriages and corporal punishment in the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is provided for by the Draft Law, but many find the second amendment difficult to accept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many fear that even the slightest cuff used to punish a child could be abused by someone to report them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To prevent this from happening, the Draft Law lacks a precise definition of what constitutes corporal punishment, according to the position of the Judicial Authority Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Committee on the Rights of the Child has clearly defined the principles by which corporal punishment should be determined, in order to prevent abuses \u2013 both overly harsh prohibitions, i.e., excessive punishment of parents, but also solutions that are too mild due to which certain behavior would not be recognized,&#8221; says Aleksandra Arnautovi\u0107 from the Judicial Authority Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The relevant ministry reminds that four years ago, Serbia adopted the General Protocol for the Protection of Children from Violence, which specifies what constitutes corporal punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><div id=\"videoBox-2573634\" class=\"brid\" itemprop=\"video\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> $bp(\"videoBox-2573634\", {\"id\":\"34612\",\"width\":\"600\",\"height\":\"343\",\"video\":\"2573634\",\"autoplay\":0,\"shared\":true});<\/script>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Violence normalized<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Of more than 250 comments on the Draft Law, the ministry accepted one-fifth. An application that was intended to serve for analyzing the prevalence of violence, which many interpreted as a means that would enable children to report and blackmail parents, was deleted from the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Nowhere in the law does it state that children will be taken away from parents. It is necessary to talk to parents, provide psychological and sociological support from experts employed in centers for social work, and suggest that they eliminate deficiencies in the exercise of parental rights,&#8221; states the Minister for Family Care and Demography, Jelena \u017dari\u0107 Kova\u010devi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psychologist and psychotherapist Sne\u017eana An\u0111eli\u0107 believes that it is not about creating hostility towards parents, but about protecting children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We have normalized violence to a large extent and use it almost daily, often unaware of the consequences. It causes fear, insecurity, awakens aggression, and imposes a model of behavior \u2013 when I have a problem, I will use force,&#8221; points out An\u0111eli\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The debate on the abolition of physical punishment has also pushed other amendments to the Family Law into the background, such as the abolition of the age limit of 10 years for a child to express an opinion in administrative and judicial proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/serbian-woman-sentenced-in-kosovo-osce-official-received-six-years-in-prison-for-alleged-espionage-for-the-bia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">SERBIAN WOMAN SENTENCED IN KOSOVO: OSCE official received six years in prison for alleged espionage for the BIA!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/managed-to-instill-serbian-spite-in-the-players-darko-rajakovic-explained-what-was-key-for-torontos-new-victory-in-the-playoffs-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">MANAGED TO INSTILL SERBIAN SPITE IN THE PLAYERS: Darko Rajakovi\u0107 explained what was key for Toronto\u2019s new victory in the playoffs! (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/vanja-grbic-without-restraint-on-the-situation-in-serbia-pera-the-postman-cannot-lead-the-army-we-are-the-best-at-burying-the-living-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">VANJA GRBI\u0106 WITHOUT RESTRAINT ON THE SITUATION IN SERBIA: Pera the postman cannot lead the army, we are the best at burying the living! (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/police-found-andelas-car-the-mystery-of-the-girls-disappearance-in-belgrade-deepens-family-desperate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">POLICE FOUND AN\u0110ELA\u2019S CAR: The mystery of the girl\u2019s disappearance in Belgrade deepens, family desperate!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/the-last-great-writer-of-yugoslav-literature-goran-babic-author-of-over-70-books-and-numerous-films-has-passed-away\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">\u201cTHE LAST GREAT WRITER OF YUGOSLAV LITERATURE\u201d: Goran Babi\u0107, author of over 70 books and numerous films, has passed away!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>Source<\/strong><\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rts.rs\/lat\/vesti\/drustvo\/5935133\/porodicni-zakon-rasprava-nasilje.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">RTS<\/a>; <strong>Photo<\/strong>: Pixabay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The abolition of physical punishment of children through amendments to the Family Law has led to allegations that &#8220;the state is sending control into the home&#8221; and &#8220;criminally prosecuting for slaps and cuffs,&#8221; which, according to the relevant ministry, are incorrect and unacceptable. The public debate on the Draft Amendments to the law ended ten [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2169,"featured_media":208583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[12446,12447,319,320,113],"class_list":["post-208582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-serbia","tag-batine","tag-fizicko-kaznjavanje","tag-nasilje","tag-porodica","tag-srbija","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208582"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208615,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208582\/revisions\/208615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}