The second quarterly meeting of the criminal law departments of all four appellate courts and the Supreme Court of Serbia, supported by the joint EU/CoE project “Support for the implementation of judicial reform in Serbia”, took place on 9 June 2025 in Kragujevac. In line with the agreement between the Supreme Court and the appellate courts, a longstanding practice of holding quarterly meetings between the criminal law departments of all four appellate courts and the Supreme Court of Serbia has been established to provide a forum for the harmonisation of case-law.

Judges from the appellate courts highlighted several contentious legal positions that had led to differing interpretations among the case-law departments of the four appellate courts. In response, Supreme Court judges presented the position of the Supreme Court’s criminal law case-law department on these contested issues, prompting discussion and a range of legal viewpoints among the appellate court judges. The Appellate Court of Kragujevac also presented several disputed legal stances received from the higher courts, initiating a debate during which several different opinions were shared. Judges of the Supreme Court stated that this practice should be continued in future sessions.

A representative from the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade opened the meeting and outlined future project activities aimed at harmonising case-law under the “Support for the Implementation of Judicial Reform in Serbia”. The project will continue to support efforts to harmonise case-law, facilitate the use of appropriate IT tools, and raise awareness among judges about the importance of case-law harmonisation.