At its seventeenth session, held on 9 December, the Board of Inquiry Charged with Ascertaining the Truth about New-born Babies Abducted from Maternity Wards in Several Serbian Cities interviewed the Minister of Justice, Zoran Stojkovic.

Mr Stojkovic informed the deputies of activities undertaken by the Ministry in relation with cases of newborn children suspected of having been abducted from maternity wards, and especially in the field of administrative supervision.

The deputies exchanged opinions with the Minister about possible activities aimed at solving the cases. Special attention was devoted to possible co-operation with the Ministry of the Interior to collect information on cases that have lapsed under the statute of limitations.

Mr Stojkovic said that a new law on DNA registries was being drafted; the new piece of legislation is to regulate the field and precisely define the procedure of obtaining DNA samples for analysis.