OSCE Mission to Serbia and ODIHR prepare with civil society partners to follow elections to judicial self-administration bodies

The laws, rules and procedures for jointly assessing the upcoming elections of judges and prosecutors to the High Judicial Council and State Prosecutorial Council were the focus of a workshop in Belgrade on 6 November 2015, organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM) NGO.

YUCOM’s staff were trained on the legal framework and the rules of elections to the Councils. The Mission and ODIHR jointly developed a code of conduct for the monitoring activity, which was another topic of discussions with YUCOM at the workshop.  

Upon the invitation of the Presidents of the High Judicial Council and the State Prosecutorial Council, the Mission is monitoring the elections of judges and prosecutors to the Councils, the organs of judicial self-administration. Out of eleven members of each Council, six are chosen through a process of peer election with a subsequent vote by the national parliament. This will be the second time since 2010 that Serbian judges and prosecutors are selecting their representatives.

“The High Judicial Council and the State Prosecutors Council play a vital role in upholding the OSCE commitments to an independent and accountable judiciary, thus further strengthening the rule of law in the country,” said Ambassador Peter Burkhard. 

The Mission, in co-operation with ODIHR, follows the entire judicial election process from the initial nomination of candidates through to any complaints and appeals procedures. Based on observations of the process and stakeholder interviews, a final report with recommendations will be issued, assessing the procedure’s compliance with international standards of judicial independence.

YUCOM is supporting this activity by observing the voting process on the elections days, scheduled for 1 December 2015 for prosecutors and 14 December 2015 for judges. They will also interview judges and prosecutors regarding the nomination procedure.