Reforma pravosuđa

Knežević Bojović, Ana and Reljanović, Mario (2012) Reforma pravosuđa. In: Usklađivanje prava Republike Srbije sa pravnim tekovinama EU : prioriteti, problemi, perspektive. Institut za uporedno pravo, Beograd, pp. 89-118. ISBN 978-86-80059-85-3

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Abstract

The judicial system reform has been an important issue in Serbia ever since the democratic changes of 2000. The reform was motivated by the desire to achieve the ideal of an efficient and competent judiciary, capable of responding to the challenge of managing the massive backlog of unresolved cases, a judiciary that will depart from the legacy of the authoritarian regime, which was characterised by politically motivated decisions and instrumentalisation of the judicial office. The efforts made have yielded little results, and the implementation of new legislative solutions was postponed. Lustration was not carried out; the judiciary was compromised by new scandals; an unfavourable media image was created. Following the constitutional change of 2006, a comprehensive judicial system reform was implemented. The reform had three components – setting up the new court and prosecutorial network, which implied changes of the number, names and competence of courts and prosecutor’s offices; a general appointment of all judges, prosecutors, and deputy prosecutors; the adoption of a number of statutes directly or indirectly related to the judiciary and access to justice The authors investigate the judicial reform process and its practical consequences by analysing several topical issues – access to justice, efficiency of the judiciary, review of the reappointment of judges and prosecutors, changes to legislation and introduction of new legal institutes. They show that the objectives of the judicial reform in Serbia not only remain unaccomplished, but that the reform is a step back in many respects. The authors challenge the plausibility of the new judicial network, heavily criticise the review process conducted with regards to the re-appointment of judges and prosecutors (from first-hand experience) and challenge the viability of some new legislative solutions.

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