Conditions for opening Chapter 23 will be met in autumn

BELGRADE - Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic said on Monday that Serbia will meet all the conditions for opening Chapter 23 (on the judiciary and fundamental rights) in the accession talks with the EU in autumn.

The recent report on the screening for Chapter 23 listed a number of issues as tasks which need to be realised but these have mostly been completed since the report was drafted on the basis of reviews conducted six months ago, he said.

In a statement for Radio Television of Serbia to mark the first 100 days of the government mandate, Selakovic noted that eight important judiciary laws were adopted in that period, some of which are already being implemented while the delayed implementation of some others should begin early next year.

Several laws in the justice sector should be adopted soon, including the law on whistleblowers, the law on protection of the right to trial within a reasonable period of time and the law on free legal assistance, he noted.

The Council of Europe filed its opinion concerning the law on whistleblowers and qualified the document as a good example, Selakovic said and added that Serbia will get one of the best laws on whistleblowers in Europe. He expressed the belief that the law would be adopted during the first regular autumn sitting.

Certain progress has also been made in the area of justice vocations as notaries and executors have been appointed for the first time and mediators should also be appointed soon. Major progress has also been made in the area of housing infrastructure both in terms of justice institutions and prison units, the justice minister said.

Photo Tanjug, S. Radovanovic (archive)