Back Debate on preventing undue influence on judges in Kladovo

Debate on preventing undue influence on judges in Kladovo

At the invitation of the Forum of Judges of Serbia, the joint European Union-Council of Europe action “Strengthening independence and accountability of the judiciary” facilitated organisation of a debate aimed at presenting the recently achieved results by the High Judicial Council in developing internal mechanisms for countering risks of undue influence on individual judges and the judiciary as a whole.

The debate was held on 11 October as part of the Days of the Forum of Judges, a conference for legal professionals, which gathered more than 50 judges, representatives of civil society and international partners. Zorana Delibašić, Vice President of the High Judicial Council (HJC), who was elected to act as competent judge for claims against undue influence, presented the amendments to the HJC Rules of Procedure adopted in April, which now prescribe a clear procedure for reporting undue influence and ways in which the HJC can react. Judge Delibašić emphasised that in the short period since these novelties were introduced to the work of the HJC, she has already acted in four cases of undue influence on the work of judges.

The presentations were followed by a lively discussion, which included testimonies from several judges who stressed that this mechanism has already made the HJC more recognisable and visible in protecting their rights. Participants stressed the significance of disseminating information about the changes, as it was done through a special leaflet, and concluded that more should be done to inform holders of judicial office of recent amendments to the HJC Rules of Procedure guaranteeing protection against undue influence.

This action is part of the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II”, joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme, which aims at assisting beneficiaries in the Western Balkans region and Turkey to comply with the Council of Europe standards and European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process, where relevant.

Kladovo 11 October 2021
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