On 27 November 2020, Minister of Justice Maja Popović visited the construction site of the Palace of Justice in Kragujevac. It is the largest judicial infrastructure project initiated by the Ministry of Justice in the last few decades, which is fully funded through the Budget of the Republic of Serbia.

“Improvement of judicial infrastructure will continue to be one of the priorities of the Ministry of Justice,” Minister Popović pointed out indicating that, given the current pace of construction, the building would likely be completed ahead of schedule, which was yet another proof of efforts towards a more efficient judiciary.

Between 2012 and 2019, over 200,000 square metres of justice buildings in Serbia were fully renovated, refurbished, adapted, remediated or newly constructed, including that ‘magnificent’ building, which was, according to the Justice Minister, an ‘admirable’ achievement. “We are fully aware of how important it is to invest in judicial infrastructure as better working conditions pave the way for greater staff efficiency. Similarly, more courtrooms ensure more days of trial and less backlog, all of which result in better performance of the entire judiciary,” she explained. It was her expectation that the new building — the construction of which began at the end of August 2018 — and the on-site working conditions would contribute to increasing the overall efficiency by 30−40 percent.

Minister Popović shared her belief that the first phase of the reconstruction of the part of the Filip Kljajić military facility in Niš — dating from 19th century — would be completed soon to accommodate special anti-corruption departments of that city.

President of the Supreme Court of Cassation Dragomir Milojević said that the future Palace of Justice would help judicial bodies in Kragujevac become even more efficient, noting that the edifice would be an ‘exemplary facility’ in both Serbia and the region.

Mayor of Kragujevac Nikola Dašić thanked the Justice Ministry and the Serbian Government for recognising the need of the Kragujevac judiciary to have such a building.

The Palace of Justice is to house all 11 judicial bodies of Kragujevac and will have 24 courtrooms and 74 judges’ quarters. It will accommodate over 800 employees within an area of 25,000 square metres. The total cost of construction is 2.4 billion dinars, VAT excluded.

During her visit, Minister Popović also spoke with representatives of the local judiciary.