The Council of Europe Office in Belgrade and the Judges’ Association of Serbia jointly organised the Conference on the Freedom of Association of Judges, which was held today in Belgrade. The conference was attended by judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and representatives of civil society.
The conference was opened by Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Snežana Bjelogrlić, President of the Judges’ Association of Serbia, and Daniel Mohseni, Political Advisor at the German Embassy to Serbia. The event was held 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.
Tobias Flessenkemper stressed that the Council of Europe has been treating the freedom of association of judges and its intrinsic link to the rule of law with particular attention. The recommendation adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2010 underlined that judges should have the freedom to join professional organisations in order to protect their independence, interests of their profession and to promote the rule of law.
The President of the Judges’ Association of Serbia Snežana Bjelogrlić stressed that the freedom of association of judges, which judges in Serbia gained in 1997 despite many challenges, is not forever given, permanent and inviolable, as evidenced by the current experiences of judges in some European countries where judicial independence and the rule of law are under severe threat. The freedom of judges to associate and express their opinions is viewed with suspicion and even condemnation. At the same time, the acceptance of the concept of human rights protection and its development through the case law of the European Court of Human Rights by member states of the Council of Europe has influenced the evolution of the role of judges, who are now not only defenders of judicial independence, but also human rights defenders.
Daniel Mohseni, Political Advisor at the German Embassy to Serbia, stated that the freedom of association of judges is of course a topic which is very closely linked to the issues of judicial independence and rule of law in general: an intact system of checks and balances of the executive, legislative, and judiciary powers is a fundamental prerequisite for the protection of civil and human rights and values of the EU, and thus a precondition for EU accession.
In the working part of the conference there was a panel discussion which, besides members of the Judges’ Association of Serbia, also gathered representatives of professional associations of judges from Poland, Italy and Bulgaria.
