Lawyers continue strike, demand Selakovic to resign

BELGRADE - Members of the bar chambers of Belgrade and Serbia announced during the protest in front of the Palace of Justice on Thursday that they would continue with the strike until their requests are met, one of which covers the resignation of Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic.

Lawyer associations' demands also include a reduction of the tax base for 2014 by 10 percent and restoration of the same authorities to lawyers which they had prior to the introduction of public notaries.

Lawyers also want to meet with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, and they said that the request for Selakovic's resignation was made because of the unsuccessful judiciary reform and the fact that their requests were ignored.

At the gathering, the protesters were informed that the Serbian government adopted the decree to invalidate the Ordinance of the Serbian Bar Chamber on strike which means that the lawyers wishing to return to work are allowed to do so, and the protesters reacted by listing the requests and said that the strike would continue until the fulfilment of requests.

During the protest, gathered protesters said that there are no divisions among lawyers, or any attempt of politicisation of the protest or an intention to come into conflict with public notaries.

President of the Serbian Bar Chamber Dragoljub Djordjevic accused the government of wishing to render law practice into a state matter and called on his colleagues to persevere in the strike until the end.

Lawyers also want to be allowed to continue drafting the documents as they did before the introduction of public notaries. The protesters pointed out that lawyers performed this task at a price ten times lower than the price set by notaries.