Following the reaction of the National Network against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, the Platform for Gender Equality and the Network for Protection from Discrimination, the Ministry of Interior abandoned the amendments to Articles 31 and 31a of the Law on Police, which relate to the confiscation of service weapons and the referral of the police officer to a psychological and psychiatric examination when he commits domestic violence.
The planned amendments were in conflict not only with the Istanbul Convention, but also with the Law on Prevention and Protection from Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, because it provides for temporary measures that, among other things, include the confiscation of firearms when the perpetrator possesses a firearm.
Following the reaction of civil society organizations, the Ministry of Interior announced the following:
“The Ministry of Interior has conducted an additional analysis and assessment of the proposed solutions and, consequently, the existing working version of the draft law no longer envisages any intervention (revision or deletion) in the aforementioned article, i.e. the existing solutions in the Law on Police that are in force in that section remain unchanged.”
We welcome the decision of the Ministry of Interior and demand that in the future the institutions act in accordance with the Istanbul Convention and the national legislation that is harmonized with the convention, as well as in the direction of protecting women victims of violence and domestic violence.
