The Ministry of Justice has published the working draft of the National Strategy for Advancing the Judiciary 2019-2024 on its website.
Considering that in the previous period numerous judicial reform efforts had been made towards the strengthening of the rule of law, the Ministry of Justice notes that the adoption of a new strategy was a necessary step in furthering the EU-integration process and taking transition measures defined in Chapter 23. Furthermore, top priorities of the new strategy are: continued strengthening of judicial and prosecutorial independence through advanced normative and institutional frameworks; further increasing the integrity of those holding judicial office by adherence to ethical principles; promoting justice system accountability by strengthening the mechanism of accountability of judges, public prosecutors and deputy public prosecutors; as well as continued improving of the quality of the justice system by raising the level of expertise and skills of those holding judicial office and working in the judiciary.
Additionally, the new strategy is important because it will ensure a continued increase in the efficiency of the justice system through analysis and adjustment of the judicial network, reduction in the number of unsolved or open cases, prevention of more backlog, and ICT system development to achieve a modern e-judiciary.
Similarly, the new strategy will aim to raise the public’s trust in the judiciary by making judicial institutions accessible and their work transparent. This would include making their websites more functional.
Members of the Working Group who produced the draft were representatives of all relevant judicial institutions and organisations, including professional associations: the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Office of the Republic Prosecutor, the State Prosecutorial Council, attorneys-at-law (Bars), the Judicial Academy, the Notary Chamber, the Judges’ Association of Serbia, the Prosecutors’ Association of Serbia, the Association of Judges and Prosecutors, and the Public Bailiffs Chamber.
Renowned experts - hired through the USAID Rule of Law Project – had contributed to the strategy drafting efforts.