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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Set of judiciary bills for implementation of constitutional changes adopted

Belgrade, 17 January 2023

The Serbian government adopted today a set of judiciary bills for implementation of changes to the Constitution in the part related to the organisation and arrangement of judicial bodies, with the aim of strengthening the rule of law and increasing legal certainty through a more independent judiciary and independent public prosecution and fulfilling obligations taken over in the process of European integration.

The government has adopted the Bill on judges, which refers to the issues of independence of judges, conditions for their election, permanence, intransferability, immunity, as well as the incompatibility of work with the function of a judge.

The most important change regarding the election of judges is that judges are no longer elected by the National Assembly but by the High Council of the Judiciary, while the most important novelty in the provisions governing the work of lay judges is that the entire process is also led by the High Council of the Judiciary, instead of the Ministry of Justice until now.

The Bill on the High Council of the Judiciary prescribes the position, competence, organisation and way of working of that council, the conditions and procedure for the election of an elective member, the duration of the mandate and the termination of his office.

The Council is an independent state body that ensures and guarantees the independence of the court, the judge, the president of the court and the jury judge.

The members of the Government also adopted the Bill on the Public Prosecutor's Office, which aims to strengthen the independence of the holders of the public prosecutor's office and the permanence of that office.

The new legal solutions regulate precisely the organisation and jurisdiction of the public prosecutor's office, conditions, procedure for election and termination of office, rights and duties, evaluation of their work, disciplinary responsibility and others.

At the session, the Bill on the organisation of courts was adopted, which determines the establishment, abolition, types, scope and actual jurisdiction of the court, internal organisation, court administration and staff, judicial administration, provision of the court and funds for the work of the courts.

Also, the principles of judicial power and its operationalisation through the courts as state bodies with a clearly defined role and place in the system of division of power are regulated.

The Bill on the High Prosecutorial Council, which determines the position, jurisdiction, organisation and way of working of the High Prosecutorial Council, as well as the conditions and procedure for electing an elective member of the Council.

The seat of the Council is in Belgrade, it has a total of 11 members - five public prosecutors elected by the holders of the public prosecutor's office, four prominent lawyers elected by the parliament and the supreme public prosecutor and the minister responsible for justice, as well as ex officio members.