Joint European Union-Council of Europe action “Strengthening independence and accountability of the judiciary” held presentations for newly-appointed members of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils on 22 and 17 June respectively. Peer-elected members of these two bodies assumed duties in early April.

The opening remarks at both presentations were delivered by Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade and Dirk Lorenz, Head of Political Section at the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia. At the presentation for members of the High Judicial Council, the keynote address was delivered by judge Jasmina Vasović, President of the Supreme Court of Cassation.

The events were held with the aim to present key achievements in the past period, most notably the work done on amending the Rules of Procedure of the two Councils in order to strengthen competencies in countering risks of undue influence on judges and public prosecutors. Both Councils have significantly brought the issue forward, with the Prosecutorial Council appointing the Commissioner for Autonomy, and the Judicial Council appointing the peer-elected judge, who has already acted in three instances of claims of undue influence on the work of judges.

The working part of the meeting also featured presentations on the on-going work aimed at introducing the system of confidential counselling on ethical matters for judges and public prosecutors.

The Director of the Judicial Academy presented on past and future work on delivering trainings to holders of judicial office on integrity matters. Finally, the action team provided the participants with outlooks regarding upcoming activities, including on the relations between the judiciary and the media, on the merit-based promotion and performance evaluation of judges and public prosecutors, and further efforts to enhance the overall accountability of the judiciary.

The action “Strengthening independence and accountability of the judiciary” is a part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.