The closing event of the EU-funded project Judicial Efficiency worth EUR4 million, entitled Judicial Efficiency – Old Challenges, New Solutions, presented the activities and outcomes of the endeavour according to which 30 basic courts in Serbia have managed to reduce their backlog by more than 765,000 cases.

Participants were greeted by President of the Supreme Court of Cassation Dragomir Milojevic, Minister of Justice Nela Kuburovic, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Ambassador Sem Fabrizi and Judicial Efficiency project Team Leader Brian LeDuc.

Head of the EU Delegation in Belgrade Sem Fabrizi said the project produced excellent results, adding that a new one, worth EUR3.5 million, is being discussed.

Ambassador Fabrizi said that since 2006, the EU allocated EUR93 million for the promotion of rule of law in Serbia.

Justice Minister Nela Kuburovic said that electronic exchange of data would eliminate the need for an exchange of information on paper.

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“It will reduce the length of judicial proceedings and save a significant amount of money spent on mailing fees,” Nela Kuburovic said.

She said that thanks to the two-year project, over 130,000 inaccurate and incomplete items of data had been corrected in 20 courts.

The conference underlined some of the results achieved in the project: improved case law; drawing and application of the first successful case-weighting methodology; and backlog reduction (30 basic courts have reduced the number of old cases by 765,239). The two-year project has contributed to a more efficient judicial system in the Republic of Serbia, ensuring a swifter and easier access to justice for its citizens.

The activities of the project Judicial Efficiency, which kicked off in February 2016, were in line with priorities set out by key strategic documents – the National Judicial Reform Strategy and Chapter 25 Action Plan.

The project has worked closely with six Serbian institutions: the High Judicial Council, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court of Cassation, the State Prosecutors’ Council, the Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Judicial Academy. It has supported improvement in various key areas, such as the reduction of case backlog, harmonisation of case law, streamlining of administrative procedures in courts and prosecutors’ offices,  interoperability in justice, management of human resources, balanced distribution of cases among judges, informatisation of the judicial system and alternative dispute resolution.