Serbia is a next to last country in Europe in terms of the speed of execution of judgments considering that it takes almost 600 days for the enforcement of one court decision. We expect that amendments to the Law on Enforcement and Security will improve efficiency because we came up with good solutions in an excellent public debate we had, and I would like representatives of the economy to be regularly involved in the development of regulations and to point to the problems in the application of the existing ones, said the Minister of Justice, Nikola Selaković, at today’s working meeting with NALED members and partners.
Amendments to the Law on Enforcement and Security will unburden courts from a large number of old cases and part of the powers will be transferred to the competence of bailiffs and will balance the actions of judges. Selaković advised the participants of the meeting to increase the use of mediation because a trial has proven to be an expensive way of resolving disputes everywhere in the world.
In terms of the problem of the gray economy and inefficient addressing procedures initiated on the basis of inspectors’ reports, the Minister of Justice pointed out that the problem is not only in courts. Selaković gave an example that an inspector does not attend a trial to prove an offense or evidence he/she submitted, and which is not sufficiently strong, for which reason the report gets rejected. Nevertheless, he added that there is a lack of specialised knowledge in specific fields and that some of the judges are resistant towards professional development.
A member of the NALED Board of Directors, Vojislav Genić, pointed out that the support of judicial powers in the fight against illegal business will be much appreciated after commencement of implementation of the national program for combating the gray economy which involves the work of NALED and the Government of Serbia.
NALED data show that only 46% of cases against the persons operating in the gray zone are resolved and 40.5% of penalties charged. We believe that, in addition to building inspection capacities, it is important to specialise the prosecutors and judges for in this type of proceedings. This would send a clear message to all those who intend to break the law, that they will be quickly identified and punished. It would also be necessary to amend the Criminal Code and ensure easier proving of criminal acts in the field of the gray economy, Genić said.
Minister Selaković was presented with problems of NALED members at the level of cities and municipalities where they face false reporting on bites of stray dogs. As he stated, it was noticed that the same persons submit requests for compensation in the territory of several local self-governments. “This problem seriously affects local budgets and we are ready to help in designing models that will stop this practice” Genić added.