What does the adopted amendments to the Act on Protection of Population from Infectious Diseases make?

According to the urgent procedure with immediate effect National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted Amendments to the Act on Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases.

According to the reasoning behind the adoption of amendments to the law proposed by the Government of the republic of Serbia, inter alia it is stated as follows: “The main causes for adoption of this Law  arise from the need to overcome problems in the practice of implementing regulations, decisions or orders issued by authorities in charge of infectious diseases, which determine all sorts of measures to protect the population from infectious diseases, as well as sanctions when these standards are not respected in practice. “

The draft law caused numerous controversies and resentments, and the Professional community and basic community itself heatedly discuss the repressive part of this law, issues related to mandatory immunization, etc.

However, regardless of all the above, it is importannt to point out some new concepts and obligations introduced by the legal text, which are expected to have their proximate enforcement  in connection with the current pandemic of the Covid-19 virus.

Notwithstanding previously defined particular measures for the population protection from infectious diseases, the amendments to the law also imposes home isolation, self-quarantine at home and personal protection against mentioned infection.

By Law home isolation refers to the ordering measure of curing at home and restricting the freedom of movement (mobility right) of patients with infectious diseases, i.e. with undetermined presence of symptoms or signs of infectious disease and persons suffering from infectious diseases in whom the severity of the disease does not require hospital treatment, in the course of the period of contagion.

Self-quarantine at home will insert a measure of restriction of freedom of movement containing the ordering of monitoring the health condition of healthy persons who were or are suspected to have been in contact with persons infected with a contagious disease.

The legal novelty is personal protection against infection as well, which measures particularly include the obligation of utilization personal protective equipment in accordance with the disease strain, specified behavior indoors and/or outdoors, at public and private gatherings and other prescribed personal protection measures to prevent or suppress the spread of contagious diseases.

Legal entities and entrepreneurs who perform activities in facilities where other persons reside, are obliged to undertake actions and activities in order to application of personal protection against infection, as well as to designate a person responsible for the proximate enforcement of these legal measures.

The control of the implementation of personal protection measures will be performed by the Sanitary Inspection, but in addition to it, in case of an epidemic of infectious diseases of greater epidemiological significance on a larger scale, the control of the implementation of personal protection measures will be performed by the communal inspection and communal militia. A communal militiaman or inspector will be able to write a ticket on site visit to a person who does not honor the prescribed epidemiological measures (fail to comply with the l physical distance, wearing a mask, etc.).

Amendments were made to the law in relation to penal provisions as well, by prescribing, for example, fines for non-complince i.e. persons who refuse or do not comply with self-quarantine at home or perhaps castisation in the amount of RSD 300.000,00 (approx. 2.550,00 €) for legal entities that does not take actions and activities to apply personal protection measures from infection, as well as if it does not designate a person responsible for the proximate enforcement of these measures.