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 Presentation of Serbian Translations of the Council of Europe’s Standard-Setting Documents in the Field of the Rule of Law

Serbia: Strengthening the Judiciary Reform Process

More than 50 members of the judicial profession, including Serbian Constitutional Court and Supreme Court of Cassation justices, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, legal scholars, civil society activists and journalists had an opportunity to listen to speakers from the Serbian academia who delivered an online presentation on the latest publications containing standard-setting documents in the area of the rule of law developed by the Council of Europe and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Adhering to these standards is essential for ensuring the rule of law in Serbia is protected and is equally important in the context of Serbia’s EU accession process.

In order to further instigate knowledge-based policy making, the Council of Europe partnered with the Belgrade-based Institute of Comparative Law in bringing about four publications with texts previously mostly unavailable in Serbian language. The first two publications contain translations of all opinions of the Consultative Council of European Judges and Consultative Council of European Prosecutors. Another publication contains selected recommendations of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers and certain Venice Commission Opinions, while the last one features relevant judgements of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Speaking at today’s event, professor Vesna Rakić Vodinelić, retired professor of the Union University’s School of Law in Belgrade, emphasised that work remains to be done to support strengthening the rule of law and to increase awareness about human rights and their protection in Serbia. She recalled the importance of these standard-setting texts being available in Serbian and expressed hope that they would be taken into consideration by Serbian legal professionals in their future work.

In the context of presentation of the four publications to the legal professionals and the wider public, an additional online seminar will be held on 15 December. Should you be interested in receiving copies of the publications by mail, please communicate your postal address to DGI.HF.SLGIT.belgrade@coe.int.

The event was held within the framework of the project “Strengthening the Judiciary Reform Process in Serbia” which is implemented by the Council of Europe, with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Belgrade, Serbia: Videoconference 2 December 2020