The large number of old pending cases is a major challenge facing Serbia’s courts. Faster court proceedings and improved efficiency of the judicial system depend on several factors, most importantly, good case management and communication.
Troubled by the lack of opportunity for women to participate in sports activities and concerned about potential health risks to young women not engaged in athletics, the Gender Equality Commission in Topola, Serbia, recently sprang into action. Gender Equality Commissions (GECs) are formal government bodies tasked with ensuring that women’s rights are protected. They educate local officials about the need for gender-sensitive policymaking in order to implement important elements of the National Strategy on Gender Equality, which was adopted in February 2009.
Serbian courts and the High Court Council, in their previous forms, never negotiated their own budgets and financial requirements directly with the Ministry of Finance. Instead, their negotiations were conducted by the Ministry of Justice, leading to financial dependence on the executive branch.
The Serbian judicial reforms of 2010 and 2013 have had a dramatic effect on the work of the courts, and have brought with them a vital need for the role of a court administrator to help manage these transitions.
Six Serbian courts have cut their case backlogs in half by adopting procedures recommended by USAID. The courts reduced their combined backlog of more than 23,000 cases in 2010 to fewer than 12,000 cases in late 2012, the most recent figures available.
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