In line with its commitment to knowledge-based policy making, the Council of Europe partnered with the Belgrade-based Institute of Comparative Law to provide the Serbian translation of Opinion Number 15 of the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors, which concerns the role of prosecutors in emergency situations, in particular when facing a pandemic. The Opinion was adopted on 19 November 2020. The Serbian translation is available in the form of an electronic publication.
The document is to serve to prosecutors as well as the wider public interested in gaining understanding of the Council of Europe standards in the area of the rule of law. This translation is a continuation of previous activities of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, which included publishing of four publications of the rule of law standard-setting documents presented in late 2020.
The various bodies of the Council of Europe aim to reflect on current trends in the rule of law area and to provide an up-to-date guidance to the authorities of our member states. The Opinion No. 15 on the role of prosecutors in emergency situations, in particular when facing a pandemic, is highly relevant for the audience in Serbia as the various restrictions and special measures taken by the government in order to tackle the spread of the COVID-19 virus affected the course of criminal investigations and trials – said Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade on the occasion of the publication of the Serbian translation of this CCPE Opinion.
The President of the Serbian Association of Public Prosecutors, Lidija Komlen Nikolić, pointed out the significance and timeliness of the recently adopted CCPE opinion. “This is a challenging time for all judicial systems, of which the public prosecution is an integral part. During emergency situations the prosecution has a duty to preserve its integrity and integrity of its organisation, as a prerequisite for the functioning of the legal order in an emergency” said Komlen Nikolić.
The translation was produced within the framework of the project “Strengthening the Judiciary Reform Process in Serbia” which is implemented by the Council of Europe, with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany.
