The delegation of 16 judges of the Supreme Court of Cassation and appellate courts, as well as prosecutors from the Republic Public Prosecutors Office and focal points in charge for the prosecutorial case-law took part in the study visit to the Council of Europe, including the European Court of Human Rights, from 27 to 29 June 2022.

During the visit, Serbian judges and prosecutors engaged in a constructive dialogue with judge and lawyers of the ECtHR Registry and Department for the Execution of the ECtHR judgments on the outstanding issues and cases against Serbia before the European Court of Human Rights and the Committee of Ministers. Participants were introduced to the case-law systematisation and methodology of classification of human rights issues in the European Court of Human Rights as well as with the mandate and the role of the Jurisconsult at the ECtHR in fostering the judicial dialogue and ensuring consistency of the Court’s case-law. Furthermore, they discussed available IT tools developed on the level of ECtHR but also on the domestic level, which may be useful in ensuring effective implementation of the Convention on the domestic level.

Members of the delegation attended the Grand Chamber hearing in the case Sanchez v. France, while the program of the study visit was also complemented by sessions on digital transformations of the judiciary and findings and recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) against Serbia.

The study visit is part of the Action’s comprehensive effort to contribute to the judicial dialogue between the domestic authorities and its counterparts in the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe experts, for the purpose of harmonising domestic judicial practices (case-law) with standards arising from the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and of enhancing execution of the ECtHR judgements in Serbia.

The study visit was organised under the action "Strengthening the effective legal remedies to human rights violations in Serbia", implemented under the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022".