The joint European Union and Council of Europe action “Strengthening independence and accountability of the judiciary” held its fifth 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.
The meeting was opened by Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, who reminded the Steering Committee members that the push to get things done in the justice sector has become more evident than before: the constitutional reform is in the parliamentary process. In the last period, the Ministry of Justice, the High Judicial Council and the State Prosecutorial Council have followed up on long standing recommendations made by the Council of Europe monitoring bodies, and also those foreseen in the Action Plan for Chapter 23.
Flessenkemper also shared that this week the Venice Commission undertook a virtual visit to Serbia with the aim to assess the conformity of the draft text of constitutional amendments on the judiciary and the constitutional law with relevant European standards. He added that, once the opinion on the amendments is published in mid-October, it shall give us further guidance for achieving our joint goal: strengthening the rule of law in Serbia.
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 the country.
This action is part of the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II”, joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme, 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, where relevant.
