Minister of Justice Nela Kuburović has met with the delegation of the EU-Committee of the German Bundestag headed by Manuel Sarazzin to discuss the implementation of Chapter 23 Action Plan and the upcoming amendments to the judicial provisions of the Constitution. Sarazzin said that the Ministry of Justice played an important part in the entire EU accession process, particularly considering the complexities of Chapter 23.
Minister Kuburović noted that Germany was a great partner to Serbia which had shown the Ministry of Justice significant support through projects which had helped the implementation of Chapter 23 Action Plan and the advancement of the rule of law. She explained that one of those projects, implemented in association with GIZ, had substantially contributed to the improvement in the bailiffs’ work and to the drafting of the new Enforcement and Security Ac, the application of which had ensured the finalisation of nearly 1.5 million of old cases, as well as the introduction of the notarial profession to the Serbian legal system. She added that the implementation of a new GIZ project was expected to commence soon, one which focused on the advancement of the administrative courts and which ought to contribute to the acceleration and the shortening of administrative proceedings. The Minister agreed with Sarazzin that the Ministry of Justice played an important role in Chapter 23 implementation, even though the corresponding Action Plan implementation involved fifty other institutions.
The subject of the amendments to the judicial provisions of the Constitution was also raised in the meeting. Minister Kuburović said that the Bill had been submitted to the Venice Commission assuring that the Republic of Serbia would respect the opinion of the Commission and incorporate its recommendations into the Bill. Kuburović and Sarazzin concurred that the Venice Commission was an expert body on the subject and that every country ought to accept its recommendations.
The Serbian Justice Minister stressed that another of its priorities was the improvement of the judicial efficiency towards the shortening of the duration of the court proceedings so to allow the citizens of Serbia to be tried within a reasonable time. She said that the European Commission had noted in its last report that progress had been achieved in the fight against corruption considering the new statutory provisions and reminded that the new Organisation and Competencies of the Government Authorities in Fighting Organised Crime, Terrorism and Corruption Act had entered into force on 1 March.
Kuburović added that the public deputies would soon be presented with proposals for the new Lobbying Bill and the Anti-Corruption Agency Bill. It was also said at the meeting that Germany was an important partner to Serbia for not only having supported it in the EU-integration process, but also in all other reform processes.