Back Annual Conference of Judges of the Republic of Serbia

Annual Conference of Judges of the Republic of Serbia

More than a thousand Serbian judges from all courts in Serbia gathered on 23 and 24 May 2024 in Vrnjačka Banja at the Annual Conference of Judges of the Republic of Srbija. Janos Babity, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, gave an opening speach highlighting Council of Europe’s continued support for the reform processes in Serbia. Mr. Babity noted that this year is the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe and 20th anniversary since Serbia has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which is a cornerstone of the human rights protection guaranteed to citizens of all of the Council of Europe members.


 

The conference consisted of several plenary sessions, as well as a number of specialised panels grouped in criminal, civil and administrative sections and panels of the High Judicial Council (HJC). One of the panel discussions that drew particular attention of the participating judges was “Undue influence on the work of judges“ in which judge of the European Court of Human Rights elected in respect of Serbia, Branko Lubarda, participated with support of the action „Strengthening human rights protection in Serbia“. Judge Lubarda gave a thorough overview of the European Court of Human Rights’ case-law related to the topic, while other panelists, members of the  HJC, presented practice of the HJC.

Support to the participation of Judge Lubarda in the Annual Conference of Judges is a part of efforts of the action „Strengthening human rights protection in Serbia“ to strengthen vertical dialogue between national judiciary and the European Court of Human Rights. The action is a part of the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe „Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye“, implemented by the Council of Europe.


 

Vrnjačka Banja 23-24 May 2024
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The action “Strengthening human rights protection in Serbia” is designed to facilitate and contribute to the protection of human rights in Serbia by and before domestic judicial authorities in line with European human rights standards.

This action is implemented within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” running from 2023 until 2026.

 

What is the goal and objective of the action?

The main objective of the action is to ensure that right-holders in Serbia enjoy their rights in line with the European human rights standards and benefit from high-quality service of the judicial system.

 

Who benefits from the action?

  • Judiciary and future legal professionals in Serbia will benefit from the action by having access to training and resources that improve their ability to handle human rights related cases and execute the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
  • People of Serbia will benefit from the action by having their human rights better protected at the domestic level.
  • Judicial Academy, Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights, Law Faculties, Ministry of Justice, the Constitutional Court, The Supreme Court of Cassation Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office and Ministry of European Integration, will benefits from the action by having access to the Council of Europe expertise and being supported in their institutional/administrative capacity building activities.

 

How does the action work?

  • through conferences/capacity building activities/round tables/placements to strengthen the knowledge of (future) legal professionals
  • by facilitating dialogue among the judiciary and other stakeholders for the purpose of more coherent implementation of the standards set out by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) at the domestic level
  • through streamlining the process of the execution of ECtHR judgments, the action will involve capacity-building activities, experts' legislative assessments and awareness-raising activities focusing on the execution process and its importance in the domestic human rights protection
  • the action builds on the best practices and results of co-operation under previous two phases of the programme: action “Supporting effective remedies and mutual legal assistance in Serbia” (2016 – 2019) and “Strengthening the effective legal remedies to human rights violations in Serbia” (2019 – 2022)

 

What do we expect to achieve?

  • the mechanism for the execution of the ECtHR judgements in relation to Serbia is strengthened, as well as the position of the Government’s Agent before the ECtHR as de facto co-ordinator of the execution process at the domestic level
  • the capacity of legal (future) professionals to protect and promote human rights by applying the ECHR provisions and the ECtHR case-law in their daily work is reinforced

 

What is the budget of the action?

The total budget of the action is 1 000 000 EUR.

The budget allocated to the overall Horizontal Facility programme amounts to ca. 41 million EUR (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe).

 

How to get more information?

 

About Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye

The “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe that enables the Western Balkans Beneficiaries and Türkiye to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.