On February 8th, the Club of Women Parliamentarians organised a public debate regarding the “Proposal for Adoption of a Law on Family Violence” submitted to the Parliament by NSDP. The debate was open for the general public and was followed by the representatives from the Government, the NGO sector, the international community and the media.

Mr. Ivan Anastasovski, MP from NSDP who submitted the Proposal, explained that similar legal solutions exist in almost every country in the region. He and the other debaters in favour of the Proposal pointed out the need of a comprehensive legal framework on protection from family violence, which is also one of the recommendations from the Council of Europe.

Some of the participants, on the other hand, were against the adoption of a new law, since the current legal regulations that combine the methods of civil and criminal protection are fully in compliance with the international standards. According to them, the issue of family violence is regulated with specific parts of the Family Law and the Criminal Code and the focus should now be put on the implementation of the existing laws.

The Club of Women Parliamentarians has concluded that the offered Proposal for adoption of a law on family violence does not improve the existing legal regulations and requested from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy to start with the codification and the adoption of a special law on family violence within the shortest possible time with the inclusion of all institutions active in this field.