SUPPORT FOR JUDICIAL REFORM

Minister of Justice and Public Administration Nikola Selaković met last night in Brussels with the European Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding, to inform her on the results of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration so far, as well as on the plans for the future.

The Minister said that the meeting was an excellent opportunity to present more detailed information to Ms Reding about the work on the National Judicial Reform Strategy for the next five years, which would soon be completed. “We have had an opportunity to be heard and we have received great support for the reforms, which are of crucial importance for Serbia as a state, but also for Serbia’s European path”, Selaković stated.

He pointed out that special attention in the meeting was paid to the activities of the Ministry in the following two months, and these are primarily the adoption of the judicial laws set, and their subsequent implementation in order to expand the basic courts network. “What now follows is the expansion of the judicial network, as well as defining the disciplinary responsibility of the judicial office holders better, improving the Disciplinary Commission’s performance, and improving the role of a Disciplinary Prosecutor as well”, Selaković pointed out.

“In particular, Serbia is required to depoliticise its judiciary system, to make it a more efficient, independent, and responsible system, i.e. a branch of government that will protect the state and the citizens from any arbitrariness and protect the rights of these very citizens”, said Minister Selaković. He added that the rule of law was currently not at the satisfactory level in Serbia and that all the measures taken by the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration were aimed precisely at changing this situation in Serbian judiciary system.

At the end of the meeting, Minister Selaković stated that the fact that judicial reform in Serbia, as one of the state's major tasks, coincided with the European integration, was certainly a positive state of affairs for Serbia, not a burden.