OSCE Mission to Serbia holds regional conference on judicial ethics and accountability

BELGRADE, 20 November 2012 – High-level judicial officials and experts from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia shared experiences in applying ethical and disciplinary standards for judges and prosecutors at an OSCE conference that ended in Belgrade today.

Participants of the two-day event, organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia compared disciplinary systems and codes of ethics applied throughout the region, discussed how judicial independence is reflected in the media, and how judicial administration can guarantee it.

“With this conference, we seek to stimulate region-wide exchange on key challenges for the judiciary,” said Paula Thiede, the Acting Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia. “This is part of our Mission’s larger efforts aimed at strengthening the capacity of disciplinary bodies, developing the legislative and institutional framework for the objective and transparent evaluation of judges and prosecutors, as well as at putting into practice codes of ethics in Serbia.”

Nikola Selaković, the Serbian Minister of Justice and Public Administration reiterated the Ministry’s strong commitment to furthering the reform of the Serbian justice system: “We are in the process of making necessary amendments to key judicial laws in order to uphold the independence of the judiciary as well as consolidate the disciplinary system for judges and prosecutors.” He added that the conference was a useful contribution to the process.

Thiede reiterated that the OSCE Mission in co-operation with its international partners and professional associations would continue to assist the Serbian authorities in the judicial reform process which it has been supporting since 2001.