Western Balkans and the Rule of Law: Normative assessment of the progress of the Judicial reform vs. Public Trust in Judiciary
Western Balkans and the Rule of Law: Normative assessment of the progress of the Judicial reform vs. Public Trust in Judiciary

Author(s): Marija Vishinova, Denis Hadžović
Subject(s): Politics, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment, EU-Legislation, Court case
Published by: Centar za Sigurnosne Studije
Keywords: Judicial reform; Western Balkans; Albania; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Kosovo; Macedonia; Montenegro; Serbia; EU enlargement; European Commission; Public Trust;
Summary/Abstract: The creation of independent and efficient judiciary is of a crucial importance for every transitive democracy, such as the Western Balkans. By fulfilling the prescribed benchmarks and moving closer to the European standards based on the reform of their judiciaries, the WB countries are demonstrating different success, tracing their road(s) into the final EU membership. A great challenge for each of the six countries in the region is to free their judicial systems of corruption and to increase the public trust. Eventually, impartiality, integrity and a high standard of adjudication by the courts are crucial for preserving the rule of law. Judging by the comparative analysis of the normative assessment of the progress of the WB countries in the process of implementing the judicial reform and the public trust in Judiciary, conducted in this text, it can be emphasized that generally there is a low level of public trust in the judiciary, and that although all of the WB countries have some positive progress, implementing the necessary reforms, Montenegro in comparison with the other WB countries is a regional leader in implementation of Judicial reforms.

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