OSCE Mission to Serbia, ODIHR and civil society partners to follow election of judges to High Judicial Council

BELGRADE, 18 December 2015 – The OSCE Mission to Serbia, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and civil society organization Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM) are to follow the election on 21 December of judges to Serbia’s High Judicial Council.

The High Judicial Council is the judicial self-administration body tasked with protecting the independence of the judiciary and is responsible for selecting and evaluating judges.  

“The importance of elections to the High Judicial Council is twofold: first, they allow judges to elect representatives to their own self-governing body; second, if fair and transparent, they are also an opportunity to increase citizens’ trust in the judicial bodies,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ambassador Peter Burkhard.

OSCE and YUCOM representatives will follow the voting process in 20 polling stations across Serbia. After the election, the OSCE Mission to Serbia and ODIHR will publish a report on their findings and recommendations for developing and implementing the legal framework governing the High Judicial Council in Serbia.

Following the 2011 election, this is the second time that Serbian judges are selecting their representatives. The OSCE Mission to Serbia accepted the invitation of the High Judicial Council President, Dragomir Milojević, to follow this year’s election.

This activity is part of the Mission’s wider efforts to support judicial reform in Serbia.