Political Influence as Important Factor which Restricts the Independence of the Serbian Judiciary
Political Influence as Important Factor which Restricts the Independence of the Serbian Judiciary

Summary/Abstract: The influence of politics and politicians on the Serbian judiciary exists since 1990 and the beginning of party pluralism in Serbia. Despite the existence of political consensus about necessity of judiciary reform, it is obvious that efforts of previous governments did not bring about much progress in this area. The modernization of the Serbian judiciary and enhancement of its efficiency have been the starting points of the judiciary reform since 2010. Although the main goal of the reform was an improvement of the situation in the Serbian judiciary, the entire procedural framework of the judicial reform was and still is seriously criticized. The decision of the Constitutional Court of Serbia in July 2012 confirms that reform of Serbian judiciary was not conducted in a democratic manner. Judicial independence as one of the basic democratic principles is an important indicator of the political maturity of a society. It is clear that Serbian political elite did not have the courage to realize the political promises which they gave to their voters. Serbian society needs to work a lot on implementation of the fundamental reforms, especially on the judiciary reform in order to fulfil the conditions for the full membership in the European Union.

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