Kuburović and Fabrizi discuss amendments to the justice sector provisions of the Constitution

 Today, Justice Minister Nela Kuburović met the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Sem Fabrizi to discuss Serbia’s continued progress in EU-accession negotiations, the implementation of Chapter 23 Action Plan and the upcoming amendments to the justice sector provisions of the Constitution. Kuburović announced that the Chapter 23 Action Plan would be revised by the end of the year so that it would be in line with all the activities planned for the following period. Discussing the Plan’s main activities, the Minister noted that one of the Justice Ministry’s priorities was the drafting of the amendments to the justice sector provisions of the Constitution, aimed at strengthening judicial independence and accountability.

She added that the Ministry of Justice had recently received the Venice Commission’s opinion on the draft amendments which the Ministry had originally submitted in April 2018. “The Ministry of Justice is obliged to consolidate the draft in full conformity with the Venice Commission’s comments“, Kuburović  said. She stated that the Ministry of Justice would fully accept the Commission’s recommendations and revise the draft so that it reflects those recommendations.

With one of biggest priorities of both the Ministry and the Government being an efficient anti-corruption mechanism, Kuburović announced that the new Lobbying Bill and the new Anti-Corruption Agency Bill would soon be presented to the deputies, while the Personal Data Protection Bill would soon enter the parliamentary adoption procedure.

The Minister emphasised how significant it was for the judiciary to receive assistance from the EU, most evidently in the renovation of the Palace of Justice which had been funded with an EIB loan.

Fabrizi said that the EU had invested over 85 million Euros in Serbia’s justice system up to that point. He added that an IPA project worth two million Euros had recently commenced, aiming to increase the capacity of the Ministry of Justice. He explained that every progress in Chapters 23 and 24 meant an overall progress of Serbia in joining the EU.