Legal experts, civil society representatives, and institutional stakeholders gathered in Belgrade to discuss a major European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling and unveil an updated legal handbook aimed at strengthening protections for human trafficking victims in Serbia.

Organised under the Council of Europe and European Union’s Horizontal Facility programme, the event featured the ECHR judgment in B.B. v. Slovakia, now available in Serbian, which highlights state obligations to investigate human trafficking cases.

Alongside this, participants explored the newly updated Handbook for lawyers, developed under a grant awarded to NGO ASTRA, which provides essential tools and expertise to strengthen legal support for human trafficking victims in Serbia.

With 23 participants, the discussion, facilitated by the retired judge of the Supreme Court and director of the anti-trafficking NGO, underscored the importance of advancing legal protections for human trafficking victims and thus equipping legal professionals with the knowledge and tools to secure justice for survivors.

This initiative was supported by the action "Strengthening Anti-Trafficking Action in Serbia" which is part of the European Union and the Council of Europe joint programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.