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Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Friday signed controversial justice laws despite warnings from legal experts that the changes would undermine judicial independence and criticism from Brussels that they represent a step backward on the country’s path toward European Union membership.
Critics say the amendments give court presidents greater authority over judges and remove safeguards designed to ensure the independence of prosecutors.
They also note that the changes come as prosecutors are investigating several senior government and ruling party officials over alleged corruption.
The Serbian parliament adopted the legislation without public debate or consultations with prosecutors, judges, European Union officials or the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional law.
Despite condemnation from professional associations, opposition parties and the EU, government officials insist the reforms will result in a “better and more efficient” judicial system.
“The vote by Serbia’s parliament to limit the independence of the judiciary is a serious step back on Serbia’s EU path,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos wrote on X on Wednesday.
Jovana Spremo, coordinator of the working group on judicial reforms in Serbia’s EU accession negotiations, told AFP the laws increase the power of court presidents over judges and make it harder for prosecutors to act independently.
“They restore a stricter hierarchy in the prosecution service, which had been loosened by previous amendments,” Spremo said.
Vucic acknowledged that the laws “should have undergone broad public debate and consultations with the EU” but said they were “in line with the Constitution.”
The amendments were proposed by Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS.
SNS lawmaker Ugljesa Mrdic said the reforms would “return a hijacked judiciary to the state and the people of Serbia,” claiming the judicial system was currently “under foreign control.”
Opposition figures argue the government is attempting to weaken Serbia’s top prosecutors for corruption and organized crime just as they are investigating cases involving senior government and SNS officials.
“These laws are becoming the final nail in the coffin of Serbia’s prosecution service and judiciary,” Marinika Tepic, a lawmaker from the opposition Freedom and Justice Party, said.
Vucic, who has faced more than a year of anti-corruption protests, has increasingly criticized judges and prosecutors, including those investigating a 2024 railway station roof collapse.
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