OSCE Mission to Serbia assigns 2014 Person of the Year Award in support of an independent judiciary and human rights of prisoners
BELGRADE, 9 December 2014 – Vida Petrović Škero, a recently retired judge of the Supreme Court of Cassation, and Aleksandra Stepanović, the Head of Department for Protection of Human Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty within the Prison Administration in the Ministry of Justice received the OSCE Mission to Serbia’s 2014 Person of the Year Award at a ceremony taking place today in Belgrade.
This is the ninth year of the award, which celebrates citizens of Serbia who contribute to the promotion of OSCE values in the country.
Judge Vida Petrović Škero is awarded for her dedication to upholding the independence of judiciary. From 2001 to 2014 she was a judge, first of a District Court and then of the Supreme Court of Serbia.
In 2014, Judge Vida Petrović Škero was appointed as President of the Working group tasked with drafting the Guidelines for the Improvement of the Work of the Judicial Academy. The Working Group was formed by the Commission for Implementation of the Judicial Reform Strategy 2013-2018.
In 2014, Ms. Aleksandra Stepanović led the Working Groups that drafted the Action plan for 2013-2020 Strategy for Further Development of the System of Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions as well as the new Law on Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions and the Law on Probation.
To ensure an effective implementation of the Law on Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions, Ms. Stepanović is leading the work of the Working Group entrusted with drafting nearly 15 bylaws related to the aforementioned laws.