JUDICIARY IN SERBIA IS TEMPORARY, TRACING

Abstract

A key misconception with regard to the Serbian judiciary and its reforms arises from the assumption that Serbian judiciary possesses lasting, systemic features and is sustainable in the long-term, and that, consequently, the reforms should somehow address the deficiencies in its current structure and operation in order to correct the administration of justice in a permanent way. In fact, Serbian judiciary is a provisional, temporary and transitional one. It does not satisfy the key criteria of education of magistrates and judges, ethical development and appropriate sense of own mission in society in order to be a serious, lasting judiciary. As a transitional judiciary, Serbian judiciary serves the temporary goals of political transition, rather than the goals of justice. The misunderstanding has repercussions both for members of the judiciary and for the general public. The first take the Serbian judiciary too seriously and seek reforms like those in well-established judiciaries in developed countries. Such changes, or such status, are totally unrealistic for the Serbian judiciary. The latter (the general public) expect the judiciary to mete out justice and only justice, while in fact the Serbian judiciary is a semi-political instrument which is neither conceptualized to, nor capable of, administering justice as such.