The Council of Europe is implementing the project "Support for the implementation of judicial reform in Serbia" (2022-2024), co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe.
The project focuses on the advancement of the rule of law in Serbia, by supporting the development of legislation and practices that enhance the independence and accountability of the judiciary and its institutional capacities. Through the support of key judicial institutions, the project provides a knowledge-based framework for the alignment of the functioning of the Serbian judiciary with the key European standards, thus strengthening access to justice for the citizens.
This will be performed through expert support in the process of alignment of laws in the judiciary with the new Constitution and with the Council of Europe standards, and by the upgraded training of judges and prosecutors and harmonisation of case law. Meeting these standards through the support of the EU and the Council of Europe should haste Serbian accession to the EU.
With an aim to further facilitate the work of the judiciary, the project also focuses on building the managerial and administrative capacity of courts and public prosecutors’ offices. Significant support will be provided to The Judicial Academy as the key platform for initial and continuous training of judges and prosecutors thus creating an empowering environment for current and future generations of judicial office holders.
This component is part of the bigger project "EU for the Rule of Law", launched by the EU Delegation to Serbia in 2022.
It is a new package of support to the Rule of Law Sector, part of the IPA Programme for Serbia, for a total amount of 20.8 million euros. Such support aims at accompanying Serbia in meeting the Interim Benchmarks under Chapters 23 and 24 in the coming years and is partly implemented by the EU Member states, and partly by international organisations, such as the Council of Europe, OSCE and UNOPS. The programme consists of five components.
The programmes will be ongoing until 2025.