Amendments to the act: Court fees waived if disputed parties agree to a mediation

If parties to a dispute before the courts of Serbia resolve their disputes by mediation, out-of-court settlement, acceptance or rejection of the claim, before the end of the first hearing of arguments, all accumulated fees pertaining to the initiated court proceedings will be waived. These are the novelties introduced by the Draft Amendments to the Court Fees Act which the Ministry of Justice submitted to the National Assembly of Serbia for review. “Should court dispute parties opt for mediation, irrespective of having already initiated litigation proceedings, and should mediation be successful, all court fees will be waived”, the Ministry of Justice was reported stating for Tanjug, explaining that the courts’ work would improve and mediation advance despite court fee revenues becoming lower. These amendments effectively postpone the payment of court fees, allowing the disputed parties to reconsider amicable dispute resolution even after engaging in litigation. According to Tanjug, once the Ministry of Justice had met its obligations from the Action Plan for improving Serbia’s business ranking on the World Bank’s Doing Business List, it prepared the Draft Amendments which further encouraged the disputed parties to resolve their disputes amicably, through mediation or a similar manner.

The Ministry explained that the novelty of court fees waiver was introduced into the Amendments because one of the main objectives was to achieve equal treatment of parties in civil dispute proceedings. The Ministry was also reported stating that one of the effects of the Amendments would be the unburdening of the courts, particularly the basic courts which had had an influx of collective legal action against the State, local self-government units, public companies founded by the State and other organisations and legal entities funded from the State Budget.

Amendments to the Court Fees Act will reportedly impact all parties to the litigation proceedings, whether they are private or legal entities. In other words, the postponement of court fee payments for filing and responding to claims before the end of the first hearing of arguments and the court fees waiver in case the dispute is resolved by mediation, out-of-court settlement, acceptance or rejection of the claim, will help reduce the unnecessary costs incurred by the parties as a result of long proceedings and facilitate a prompt and amicable resolution of disputes. “Such a legislative solution will help the courts with the back-log, especially of cases which have been lasting for years and which unnecessarily use up the courts resources”, the Ministry was reported stating.

The Bill Rationale read as follows: “Although the Mediation Act has been in force since 1 January 2015, the results have not been satisfactory. For that reason, systematic measures which are to truly facilitate mediation as an alternative method of dispute resolution are necessary”. Similarly, it read that the courts ought to start resolving disputes at an early stage of the proceedings by suggesting mediation to the parties or by encouraging them to reach an out-of-court settlement, so as to reduce their own workload and conduct the existing proceedings where mediation is not possible more effectively.