PROMINENT LAWYERS IN THE HIGH JUDICIAL COUNCIL OF REPUBLIC OF SERBIA: NEW RULES, NEW DOUBTS

In January 2022, Serbian Constitution was amended for first time after its adoption in 2006. The constitutional amendments were the basis for the new judicial reform. In 2023, a set of new laws on the judiciary was adopted, including the new Act on the High Judicial Council. This reform included changes in composition of the High Judicial Council of the Republic of Serbia. The subject matter of this paper is the new composition of the High Judicial Council. The author examines the new constitutional and legal norms on the composition of the High Judicial Council, particularly focusing on prominent lawyers as members of the High Judicial Council. The analysis of the constitutional amendments and relevant provisions of the new High Judicial Council Act focuses on the conditions that candidates for the High Judicial Council membership have to fulfill, as well as the election procedure. The author points to the dangerous impact that politics may exert through prominent lawyers on the work of the High Judicial Council. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether new legal framework may provide for a more independent High Judicial Council. The hypothesis is that new composition of the High Judicial Council will not make this body more independent.