At the invitation of the Presiding Justice of the Supreme Court of Serbia, Vida Petrovic-Skero, the Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republicof Serbia, Predrag Markovic, today opened the Judges’ Days 2005 annual conference of Serbia’s judges, held in Vrnjacka Banja.
Addressing judges from all over Serbia, Mr Markovic said that Serbia’s judiciary was not independent in the past, but also that it is not independent today, pressured as it is from the outside, both by the public, by the manner in which judges are appointed, and also by the fact that laws are not harmonised. He underlined that it was his personal view that Serbianeeded changes in how judicial officials are appointed, in that appointment should be the responsibility of a supreme judicial body, monitoring and evaluating the work of Serbia’s judges, and not the responsibility of the National Assembly. Speaking about the results of the work of judges, Mr Markovic stressed that European institutions saw progress in the work of Serbia’s judiciary, but that he had so far not noticed that anyone in Serbiashared that view. “This is because you deal with justice, and no-one in Serbiais interested in justice. People in Serbiaare interested in justice they could write, understand and enforce themselves, which is typical for confused and insecure societies. You do not enforce justice, and the wish for you to be that has been making the judiciary much less powerful than it really is.” Ending his address, Mr Markovic told the judges: “Some of you have taken the oath of office before me, and you know that I always ask two things of you – to pass judgement according to the law, and to be aware that you are trying the people of this country, who have a hard life, who sometimes do not know what is in store for us, and who are on average 46 years old. You too fall into that age category, but there is no-one to replace you on the job. Serbiadoes not have two thousand replacement judges; so you must learn, embrace change, and be ready to work to bring stability to this society.”
This year’s Judges’ Days 2005 judges’ conference is being organised from 10 to 13 October in Vrnjacka Banja by the Supreme Court of Serbia; over a thousand judges from all over Serbiaare in attendance.