Serbia: Strengthening the Judiciary Reform Process

Project title

Strengthening the Judiciary Reform Process in Serbia

Project duration

16 months (1 September 2019 to 31 December 2020)

project budget

The Council of Europe is implementing the project “Strengthening the Judiciary Reform Process in Serbia” funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Budget: EUR 212,778.00.

Beneficiaries/Partners

Beneficiaries/Partners: Ministry of Justice, the High Judicial Council, the State Prosecutorial Council, the Judicial Academy, the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, the Judges’ Association of Serbia, and the Prosecutors’ Association of Serbia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany

project aims

Facilitating creation of the drivers of change among the Serbian judiciary and engaging them as critical stakeholders for promoting judicial independence, impartiality and integrity.
Enabling judges and prosecutors, the Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils to further the reform process by well-informed and evidence based policy-making.
Supporting translation of the international and Council of Europe standards best practices of member states into national policies and operational measures.
Assisting in establishing a constructive dialogue among the judiciary, legislative and executive, as well as non-state organisations and professional organisations in preparation for the post-Constitutional reform process and changes foreseen.

project results

Activities implemented in co-operation with the beneficiaries will contribute to strengthening the judicial reform process in the Republic of Serbia and to improving the public confidence in the judicial system.

Project news

Retour Conference: Judiciary in the Times of the COVID-19 pandemic

Serbia: Strengthening the Judiciary Reform Process

The Council of Europe provided expertise on the organisation’s key activities aimed at strengthening the rule of law in its member-states throughout the sanitary crisis at the conference “Judiciary in the Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic”, organised by the Judges’ Association of Serbia. The conference gathered mainly judges from across the country, including one member of the High Judicial Council, and also prosecutors, representatives of bar associations, other legal professionals, civil society and the media. The meeting was opened by judge Snezana Bjelogrlic, President of the Judges Association of Serbia, Milan Antonijevic, Executive Director of the Open Society Foundation and Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Belgrade Office of the Council of Europe.

In his opening remarks Tobias Flessenkemper noted that Serbia was one of the states in which the use of online tools has contributed to maintaining the pace of court proceedings. However, he underlined that the adapted modalities must be designed in a way that would be compatible with Article 6 of the European Court of Human Rights and fair trial standards, as outlined in the Secretary General’s Toolkit to Member States. Ahead of the forthcoming elections for peer-elected members of the High Judicial Council, he emphasised that a pro-active approach of the highest judicial structures, especially of the High Judicial Council, is ever-more important given the substantive challenges to the functioning of democratic institutions across our continent.

Ivana Goranic, a Council of Europe consultant, recalled the valuable resources of the Council of Europe that could serve as a guidance for judges to navigate through these difficult times, notably the Venice Commission opinions regarding protection of human rights in the state of the emergency and an upcoming roadmap developed by the European Commission for the efficiency of justice (CEPEJ). She stressed that the President of the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) recommended implementing Action Plans for the judiciary during the pandemic. She concluded by noting that during the state of emergency and in extraordinary circumstances such as the ongoing pandemic, it is ever more important to ensure that the judicial branch is working at full strength.

The support to this event was part of the Council of Europe project “Strengthening the Judiciary Reform Process in Serbia”, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Belgrade, Serbia 25 September 2020