JAS STATEMENT

Public statements21.10.2011.

 Regarding the beginning of the drafting the rules for the review of the decisions on the reappointed and first time elected judges, on 21st October 2011 Judges' Association has called the High Judicial Council to respect the agreement and to proceed with the review procedure solving the pending problems until the Constitutional Court decides on this matter.

Following the arrest of one member of the HJC and the Anti Corruption Agency’s proposal to the Parliament to dismiss the another member of the HJC, the Council has a problem with the quorum for decision making for the review process, which has been completed in less than 1/4 cases of non-reappointed judges.

In spite of this, on 17th October 2011 the first meeting of the Working Group HJC was held which should determine how the review of the (re) appointments for both categories of judges elected in December 2009 - those (re) appointed to permanent function and those which are, following the proposal by the HJC, elected by Parliament on the first three-year judicial term. The Working Group decided to start with the Rules for review of the "new" judges.

The Constitutional Court has launched proceedings on 10th March 2011 for assessing the constitutionality of the Law Amending the Law on Judges in December 2010, and at the spring meetings held by the HJC and representatives of the EC Delegation to Serbia, the Ministry of Justice, the OSCE, Council of Europe and the Judges Association it was agreed to postpone activities related to the revision of decisions on re-appointed and the first-time elected judges until the Constitutional Court decides.

Judges Association of Serbia is adamantly opposing the review of (re)appointed judges, and it has informed about it HJC and the European Commission immediately after the adoption of December amendments to the Law on Judges and for that reason it initiated the process for assessing its constitutionality before the Constitutional Court. For that reason also Judges Association of Serbia shall not in any way contribute to the formulation of Rules for a abovementioned review.

The integral version of the Statement you can read here