“The Separation of Powers Program has brought a number of ideas, one of the key ones being the placement of a citizen at the center of attention, as the user of court services and the judiciary. The representatives of the judicial, legislative and executive branches of the Serbian Government should work for the benefit of citizens”, said today the Minister of Justice Nikola Selakovic at a ceremony marking the completion of USAID's Separation of Powers Program, which was held at Hotel "Metropol".

Selaković pointed out that the USAID Program was compatible with the activities envisaged in the National Judicial Reform Strategy for the period 2013-2018 and he Action Plan for Chapter 23. He added that the main objective of the project was to significantly support the strategic orientation of the Republic of Serbia towards EU integration.

"The mode of operation shown to us, which is particularly noticeable in the courts that were a part of this project, should be the recipe and the pattern of action to be used and applied in those courts that were unlucky enough not to have been a part of this program," said Selakovic . He also added that the Program had contributed towards Serbia viewing the problems in its judiciary as problems of one whole and one system.

Selaković stressed that, in addition to investments into the technology and the facilities, the key to a successful functioning of institutions included an investment into the people working in those institutions. He added that lack of investments in the continuous training of judges and those who follow the work of judges would not bring to a successful justice system.

At the end of the presentation, Selaković expressed his gratitude to the manager and the participants of the Separation of Powers Program for the assistance that they had provided. He also thanked the representatives of USAID in Serbia and the official representatives of the US Government.