Efficient judiciary is important for the investment environment

The Minister of Justice, Nikola Selaković, met with the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, H.Е. Axel Dittmann, with whom he talked about the situation in the Serbian judiciary and about Serbia’s progress on its way towards the European Union.

Minster Selaković pointed out that Serbia is committed to taking the European path and that it received great support from Germany through its international organizations and help in reform efforts in terms of judiciary as well. He pointed out that the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) provided support to the introduction and strengthening of the system of private bailiffs and notaries, and to the preparation of Serbia for negotiations about Chapter 23.

By pointing out that there is a great number of German companies operating in Serbia, Selaković and the Ambassador emphasised that the judiciary plays an important part in creating the good investment environment. Ambassador Dittmann said that it is very important for German companies to ensure legal certainty in terms of predictability, and then reasonable duration of court proceedings and efficient execution of judicial decisions.

In this regard, Selaković informed the Ambassador that Serbia adopted the Law on Protection of the Right to a Trial within a Reasonable Time whose application will start on 1 January 2016. He also presented to the Ambassador the draft of the new Law on Enforcement and Security which bailiffs, if adopted, will be able to use to work on enforcement cases dating from before 2012, which will significantly unburden operation of the courts and improve the enforcement system in Serbia. Selaković added that the judiciary, after quite a while, also obtained rulebooks on the evaluation of work of judges and prosecutors which will also contribute to increased accountability and better quality of operation of the judicial system.

At the end of the meeting, Selaković and the Ambassador pointed out that cooperation between Germany and Serbia in the field of law has been excellent so far and that it will be continued in the future.