Important decision
In its judgment in Pavlović v. Serbia, the European Court of Human Rights found that the state had violated a nine-year-old child’s right to respect for private life and physical and mental integrity. According to the Court, the Serbian authorities failed to take sufficient account of the child’s age, vulnerability, and the impact of the assault when they terminated the criminal proceedings against the adult assailant after he paid approximately 250 euros to a charitable cause.
The case involved a nine-year-old Romani boy who was physically assaulted in public by an adult man. The police investigated the case, but the prosecutor subsequently utilized a form of diversion in the criminal proceedings: the suspect paid 30,000 Serbian dinars into the state fund for flood relief, and the criminal proceedings were discontinued. He was not required to apologize to the child or compensate him for the harm caused. The European Court emphasized that this approach did not sufficiently reflect the needs of the child victim or his best interests, especially since the man denied responsibility and made no gesture of reparation toward the child.
The ruling does not mean that every case of violence against a child must result in the conviction of the perpetrator or that alternative measures in criminal proceedings are impermissible. However, when applying such alternatives, authorities must individually assess the severity of the assault, the child’s age and vulnerability, the psychological consequences, and whether the chosen approach truly provides the victim with effective protection. The court also noted that subsequent financial compensation, in and of itself, may not remedy the shortcomings of the state’s original criminal justice response. The ruling is also relevant to Czech practice when deciding on alternative measures in cases of violence against children.
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