Today, Minister of Justice Nela Kuburović visited the restored building of the judicial organs in Aranđelovac, with the renovation costs of over 40 million dinars having had been allocated by the Ministry of Justice. Kuburović noted that no significant investing in the building had been made since it had been constructed over 40 years prior, despite the fact that it housed three judicial organs – the Basic Court, the Basic Prosecutor’s Office and the Misdemeanour Court – and that it needed to increase it housing capacity. She explained that adding a third floor to the building resulted in additional 500m2, totalling approximately 3,000 m2. “The invested funds came out of the State Budget and amounted to over 40 million dinars. The Justice Ministry’s efforts towards improving the judicial infrastructure will certainly not stop now, bearing in mind that the largest project – the construction of the Kragujevac Peace Palace - is to commence this year“, the Minister said.
She stressed that the building – located in the Aranđelovac city centre – now looked representable, with the added third floor and a fully renovated façade and access, all owing to a good cooperation between the Ministry of Justice, the courts and the local self-government. She said that one of the ways to accelerate court proceedings was, precisely, to strengthen the judicial infrastructure, as that would allow judges the opportunity to schedule court hearings more often.
The Minister reminded that, earlier in the year, a newly constructed building of the Misdemeanour Court in Pančevo had been opened and the refurbishment of the Basic Court in Lazarevac completed, which was in addition to three other court buildings (the Misdemeanour Court in Požarevac and the Misdemeanour Court and the Commercial Court in Užice) having had been entirely restored the year before.
President of the Basic Court in Aranđelovac Vera Jevtić reiterated that the building had not benefited from any investments in 40 years, that the flat roof had been leaking and, consequently, mostly presenting a risk to the electrical installations, with small buckets placed in every room on the top floor to collect the rain-water. “After so long, the building has regained its glory”, the President stated.
Aranđelovac Municipality President Bojan Radović commented that the Ministry of Justice was to be thanked for, firstly, the reinstating of the Basic Court in Aranđelovac in 2014 and, now, the restoration of the justice building. Radović added that, aside the 40 million dinars which went into the restoration of the justice building, the Ministry of Justice had allocated another 10 million dinars of “opportunity” funds for the municipal kindergarten and the primary health centre.