Commission: Unblock law practice in Serbia

Commission: Unblock law practice in Serbia

According to the release, the Commission sent a letter to competent ministries upon adopting a unilateral decision, calling on them to continue conducting a constructive dialogue with lawyers' representatives without setting any prior conditions, all with a view to protecting the independence of the judiciary and citizens' interests.

The Commission was formed on August 25, 2013 by a decision adopted by the Serbian government, and it was tasked with realisation of activities included in the National Strategy and Action Plan for Strategy Implementation.

Newly-appointed Commission chair Dragomir Milojevic called on lawyers to end their strike and continue the negotiations with relevant ministries so as to un block the Serbian law practice.

’’On behalf of the Commission, I proposed that lawyers and relevant ministries should conduct negotiations in order to exit the stalemate because the judiciary is not working’’, Milojevic told Tanjug after the 12th session of the Commission.

As president of the Supreme Court of Cassation and the High Judicial Council, Milojevic was appointed as new Commission chair during the Monday session as the one-year chair mandate of judge Miroljub Tomic expired.

During the session, members of the Commission focused mainly on the lawyers' strike and the problems caused by absence of lawyers from court. Lawyers in Serbia have been on strike ever since September 17.

One of the reasons for lawyers' dissatisfaction is the issue of flat taxation because they say that tax decision for 2014 are higher by 40 percent, and in some cases the final figures are higher by as many as 100-300 percent.

Nevertheless, Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic said during the session that out of around 9,000 lawyers in Serbia, only 3,000 have been handed the new Tax Administration decisions with an increased flat tax base.

’’Out of the abovementioned, only 239 lawyers appealed the decision’’, Selakovic said.

The Commission session is also being attended by representatives of the Justice Ministry, Supreme Court of Cassation, Public Prosecutor's Office and the High Judicial Council, the State Prosecutors' Council, the Judges' Association of Serbia, the Association of Misdemeanour Court Judges, the Association of Public Attorneys and Deputy Public Attorneys as well as the Judicial Academy.

The Commission also gathers representatives of the Serbian Bar Chamber, Chamber of Enforcement Agents, Serbian parliament Committee on the Judiciary, Public Administration and Local Self-Government, faculties of law, Ministry of Finance, the European Integration Office and the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Republic of Serbia.