The Horizontal Facility Action “Strengthening Independence and Accountability of the Judiciary” held its fourth Steering Committee Meeting today in Belgrade, Serbia.
The meeting was attended by representatives of all beneficiary institutions – the Ministry of Justice, the High Judicial Council, the State Prosecutorial Council, and the Judicial Academy – along with representatives of the EU Delegation to Serbia and the Council of Europe. In line with the decision from the previous meeting, several designate members of the High Judicial Council and the State Prosecutorial Council from the ranks of judges and public prosecutors, were also invited to attend. The elections for these two bodies were held in late 2020 and new members ought to assume duties in early April thus the Action team wanted to ensure smooth transition and transfer of knowledge from old to new steering committee members.
The meeting was opened by Mr Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Belgrade Office of the Council of Europe, who reminded the Steering Committee members that the government has made a commitment to change the constitution to secure the independence of the judiciary. Constitutional changes are in the view of the government itself, in the analyses of experts and based on the finding of the Council of Europe monitoring bodies, an indispensable requirement for judicial independence and accountability. Mr Flessenkemper also shared that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, which stands ready to assist the Republic of Serbia in strengthening independence and accountability of the judiciary.
Ms Livia Stoica Becht, Head of Division at the Justice and Legal Co-operation Department of the Council of Europe highlighted that her team continues to be at disposal to stakeholders in the Serbian judicial community to assist them in advancing the reform path and building capacities of institutions and individual judges and prosecutors on matters pertaining to judicial independence and accountability.
Mr Enrico Visentin from the EUD emphasised that in the forthcoming period the Action is to focus on key areas where progress is expected, especially to tackle the undue influence, election of the Commission of Autonomy of the Prosecution and finalisation of the Code of Ethics for Public Prosecutors.
The Steering Committee members agreed on the calendar of activities for the forthcoming six months. The majority of work will focus on judicial and prosecutorial ethics, preventing undue influence on the judiciary, and building capacities of court and prosecution office spokespersons from across Serbia.
This Action is part of the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II”, a co-operation initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe, which aims at assisting beneficiaries in the Western Balkans region and Turkey to comply with the Council of Europe standards and European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process.
