The Protector of Citizens considered that setting-up a database containing the names of individual judges and comments on cases that they acted upon posed a sort of repression on judges’ independence, and might result in threatening the safety of judges themselves and their families.
“It is impermissible that the judges have a target painted on their forehead. This endangers not only the independence of the judges’ work, but potentially their personal safety and the safety of their families, which is harmful for the legal order and for the society as a whole" Mr. Pašalić stated and added that such arbitrary bases further undermined the citizens’ shaken confidence in the national judiciary.
Although we cannot control the judiciary, we receive a large number of complaints from citizens regarding the right to a trial within a reasonable time, non-enforcement of court decisions and the right to a fair trial, so it is the Protector of Citizens who knows best what citizens are dissatisfied with, stated Pašalić.
“I pointed out and suggested several times how to overcome this, so I believe it is highly inappropriate to form databases of judges and analyses of the cases they acted upon, as they are formed contrary to the Constitution and Serbian laws, as well as global practice in general.”
The Protector of Citizens emphasized that despite the large number of citizens' complaints on the work of the judiciary, this institution had never assessed courts’ work.
“According to the Constitution, court decisions can be re-examined only by the competent courts through regular and extraordinary legal remedies, and the election and promotion of judges is governed by regulations. Otherwise, we intrude deeply into the independence of the judicial system as an independent branch of government," Mr. Pašalić emphasized.