“Misdemeanour Court in Raška is the first building of a court built from the very foundations in the Republic of Serbia after 1996, in only four months”, said today the Minister of Justice, Nikola Selaković, who opened the new building of the Misdemeanour Court in Raška together with the President of the Court, Zorka Marić.
While speaking about the today’s Public Holiday, Selaković reminded that out ancestors, when adopting the Sretenje Constitution, had already understood that the Judiciary is one of three keystones the State is relying on, maybe even the most important one, because the first two may change, while the judiciary one must be permanent, as pillar of stability.
Selaković pointed out that the new building of the Raška Court is the result of the great wish of the Ministry of Justice, and particularly special energy and enthusiasm of the President of the Misdemeanour Court , Zorka Marić. “For such a building a lot of hard work, diligence and something we lacked a lot over the past two decades, was necessary, namely good organisation of work“, Selaković emphasized.
Speaking about the results of the Ministry, Selaković recalled that the Ministry, over the past four years, has built, restored and adapted a great many facilities for the needs of judicial authorities: in the second half of 2012 - 2 buildings; in 2013 - 6 buildings; in 2014 - 10 buildings, while in 2015 - 15 buildings of judicial authorities were built, adapted and renovated. “When these figures are converted into square meters, the Ministry of Justice, only in the last year 2015, renovated and adapted to the most modern work conditions over 17,000 square meters of useful space“, Selaković pointed out and added that until the end of 2017, the number of square meters will be three times bigger.
When presenting the plans for the next period, Selaković mentioned that the Ministry will continue its endeavours to strengthen the judiciary in Serbia and establish far more quality conditions, which will lead to better results of the judiciary. “In the first half of the year the Ministry will begin the construction of a completely new building of the Commercial and Misdemeanour Courts in Užice; renovation of the building of the Basic Court in Kraljevo as well as the adaptation of the old Court building in Sombor for the needs of the Basic and Higher Public Prosecutor’s Offices“, Selaković emphasized. Furthermore, he added that during the year the construction of new buildings of Misdemeanour Courts in Pančevo and Požarevac will begin; he also expressed his belief that until the first half of the year, works on the Palace of Justice in Katanićeva Street in Belgrade will be completed.
At the opening ceremony, the Minister of Interior, Nebojša Stefanović, President of the Misdemeanour Appellate Court, Zoran Pašalić, Lawrence Wetter, director of USAID JRGA – Judicial Reform Project, as well as the Presidents of Misdemeanour Courts in Serbia and Directors of Public Enterprises who helped in the construction of the building, were present.