Council of Europe urges Serbia to change judicial laws

BELGRADE: Serbia’s recent judicial reforms were rushed through without adequate public debate, a Council of Europe expert body warned on Friday, as it suggested revisions to some of the controversial aspects of the law.
Serbia’s parliament adopted the package of changes in late January without consulting prosecutors, judges, the European Union, or other expert bodies.
Critics say the amendments give court presidents greater power over judges and remove safeguards that guarantee prosecutors’ independence.
The changes come amid several high-profile corruption investigations targeting senior government and ruling party officials.
“Legislative changes in such important areas should be prepared with due respect for transparency, inclusiveness and democratic debate,” the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission said in an urgent opinion.
The commission added that it “regretted that these principles were not duly followed” and issued recommendations to improve the laws.
Among the recommendations was that “prosecutors’ objections against hierarchical decisions” be returned to a council of prosecutors rather than made by the higher-ranking public prosecutor’s office.
The EU has also criticized the laws, calling for Serbia to stop them or risk losing financial support.
Marta Kos, the EU’s enlargement commissioner, said in February that the bloc expected Serbia to bring the acts “back in line with EU standards” once the Venice Commission issues its opinion.
Kos on Monday again stressed concerns over the laws while addressing the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee.
After receiving the draft opinion last week, Serbia’s parliament speaker, Ana Brnabic, said the findings were “fair” while the justice minister said the country had already submitted its response and wanted “to begin work on amendments as soon as possible.”