CORRUPTION TRIALS TO BE BROADCAST LIVE: Here’s How the Students’ List Plans to Reform Serbia’s Judiciary!

In its official platform, the Students’ List has presented a plan to reform Serbia’s judiciary, which includes independent funding for courts and prosecutors’ offices, changes to the appointment process for judges and prosecutors, greater public access to court rulings, and live broadcasts of trials involving corruption and organized crime.

One of the proposals concerns the establishment of an independent judiciary budget. Under the plan, funding for the operation of courts and public prosecutors’ offices would be transferred from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice to the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecutorial Council.

Part of these funds would be allocated to improving the financial position of judges and prosecutors.

Changes to the Selection of Judges and Prosecutors

The Students’ List proposes that the appointment of judges and prosecutors fall exclusively under the authority of the relevant high councils and be conducted through public competitions.

Candidates’ written submissions would be evaluated by randomly selected assessors, without revealing the authors’ identities, while scoring criteria and competition results would be made publicly available.

The promotion of judges and prosecutors would be based on the quality of the reasoning behind their decisions and their professional performance, while also taking into account their caseloads.

Corruption Trials to Be Broadcast Live

The program also envisages public broadcasts of trials involving corruption and organized crime, as well as the creation of searchable databases of court rulings, with personal data protected.

The plan also includes the introduction of electronic court files and the electronic submission and delivery of documents.

As part of its anti-corruption efforts, the Students’ List plans to establish a prosecutorial police force, a specialized investigative service operating outside the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ chain of command. Prosecutors would directly oversee its work in individual cases.

The proposal also includes the introduction of lustration measures targeting public officials over abuse of office and human rights violations. Such proceedings would be conducted on an individual basis and in accordance with legally established criteria.

The program further envisages reviewing special laws adopted for individual projects and strengthening the Tax Administration’s capacity to investigate the origins of individuals’ assets.