OSCE Mission to Serbia supports professional associations of judges in safeguarding judicial independence

Some 60 judicial professionals gathered at an international conference in Belgrade on 7 July 2017 to discuss the experiences of national and international professional associations of judges in safeguarding the independence of the judiciary.

The Judges’ Association of Serbia hosted the conference with the support of the OSCE Mission to Serbia. Participants included representatives of judges’ associations from Croatia, France, Germany, Serbia and Slovenia, prosecutors and judicial assistants, and representatives of international judges’ associations: the International Association of Judges, MEDEL, the Consultative Council of European Judges and Eurojust.

“Independent professional associations have a key role in upholding judicial independence, a central value of any national judicial system,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Andrea Orizio. 

The aim of the conference was to emphasize the importance and the role of the judges’ associations in safeguarding and protecting judicial independence and to serve as a forum for comprehensive exchange of information and for sharing good practice. Concrete examples of activities of international and national associations and examples from various European countries were presented.

The OSCE Mission is working constantly with professional associations of judges and prosecutors in Serbia to promote the independence of the judiciary.