Serbia to adopt law on missing babies

A special law – lex specialis – will be adopted in Serbia by May next year, which should resolve the fate of babies who disappeared from maternity wards in Serbia in previous decades, it was agreed at a meeting between the Ministers of Justice and Health of Serbia, Nikola Selaković and Zlatibor Lončar, and representatives of parents' associations whose babies went missing, reports the Patria News Agency.

Lončar stated after the meeting that Serbia will thus be the first country in the world to have such a law, and reminded that the problem of missing babies from maternity wards in Serbia has lasted for decades and that its resolution has finally begun. He conveyed that the goal of this law is to establish the truth about what happened to the babies and to ensure that babies no longer disappear from maternity wards in Serbia.

According to him, rigorous controls have already been introduced in maternity wards, such as allowing parents to see their deceased child, and video surveillance has also been implemented.

Selaković said that Serbia has a unique situation in Europe, where a large group of people have been denied justice for decades.

He emphasized that every parent who suspects that their child was abducted at birth or sold has the right to know the truth, and that this is the goal of the law that will be passed.

Selaković noted that Serbia will inform the Council of Europe that it will adopt this law, that it will be drafted by May, that the provisions and content of the law are yet to be determined, and that its effect is important.