At the traditional Annual Conference of Judges in Vrnjačka Banja, Justice Minister Nela Kuburović and Acting President of the Supreme Court of Cassation and High Judicial Council Dragomir Milojević signed the Instruction for the implementation of amendments to the Enforcement and Security Act which will apply as of 1 January 2020.

Minister Kuburović said that this was a very important document which would contribute to an even better efficiency of courts and of the entire justice system.

Minister Kuburović recalled that since the beginning of the implementation of the Enforcement and Security Act in 2016, a backlog of one and a half million enforcement cases had been cleared, expressing her belief that new changes to that piece of legislation would contribute to addressing old, low-value cases.

“Our goal is to deal with old, low-value cases appropriately. This means that claims up to 2,000 dinars where no enforcement action has been undertaken in the last six months will be automatically suspended. Our goal is to act in a uniform manner and I hope that this Instruction will help us act accordingly,” Kuburović explained.

Justice Minister was convinced that from 1 January everything would be ready to start implementing ESA amendments and that the year of 2020 was going to be crucial as regards dealing with cases pending for more than ten years to be handled.

She noted that one of most significant changes was the introduction of an electronic notice board, which would resolve the issue of delivery of writs (to come into life by the end of the year). Another important novelty is that, as of the next year, enforcement agents will conduct sales of movable and immovable property through an e-auction platform.

“This is going to eliminate any shortcomings or possible abuses of the enforcement process and I believe that this is something we are going to take pride in,” Kuburović observed.

The Justice Minister thanked the EU and the USAID for their assistance in drafting the Instruction and ESA amendments.

She underlined that her Ministry had been continually working to improve the efficiency of the judiciary, that the number of justice sector staff had increased, and that courts and prosecutor’s offices had received new associates.

Kuburović also said that this year alone salaries for the judiciary would see two increases, while all efforts would be crowned with the opening of the renovated Palace of Justice. Judicial authorities are expected to be at their old address from 1 November.

SCC Acting President Milojević pointed out that the signing of the Instruction was an example of inter-institutional cooperation between this authority and the Ministry of Justice aimed at increasing court efficiency and bringing justice to citizens.

Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Mateja Norčič Štamcar indicated that the EU had invested € 22 million to date in improving the efficiency of the justice sector, of which € 11 million had been put into a modern centralised case management system.

She added that Serbia was moving down its EU path and that the EU Delegation was at Serbia’s disposal for any assistance it may need in the EU integration process.