Transparent Work of the Judicial Authorities – Starting Point for Addressing the Problem of Overcrowding in the Penitentiaries

Excessive resort to pre-trial detention (PTD) continues to be a serious problem throughout the Central Eastern Europe and the practice of PTD in most countries of the region seems to be contrary to the standards and case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and other international standards on the realisation and protection of human rights of persons deprived of liberty.The BCHR thus initiated a project entitled “Judicial Transparency – Starting Point for Addressing Overcrowding in Penitentiaries” involving monitoring visits and desk research in order to examine the possibilities and capacities of Serbian Basic and Higher Courts to keep records of the use of measures for ensuring the presence of the defendants at trials and the unhindered conduct of criminal proceedings. Furthermore, departing from the findings in the HHC analysis, the BCHR used its visits to the Serbian Basic and Higher Courts to establish the judges’ attitudes towards PTD and the extent in which they were guided by and applied international standards related to PTD and alternatives to PTD. The BCHR simultaneously endeavoured to establish whether the judges were familiar with international standards on the status and treatment of detainees.

During the implementation of the project, the BCHR team visited the Basic and Higher Courts in Belgrade, Pančevo, Novi Sad, Subotica, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Niš and Vranje and met with the representatives of the Ministry of Justice and State Administration and the Attorney General’s Office. The BCHR team also submitted requests for access to information of public importance with a view to obtaining various data on PTD practices and records and how the courts monitored the enforcement of the detention measures. It also used the data the BCHR had obtained during the implementation of the project “Reducing Overcrowding in Serbian Prisons through Monitoring, Public Advocacy and Sharing Best Practices” [1] and its years-long work in the Serbian penal system.

This publication was developed on the basis of all the research and aims at presenting its results and findings. The Serbian version of the publication also presents the international standards of relevance to judges and prosecutors in particular, as well as to the judicial administration staff in general. The publication is comprised of three parts and is accompanied by a short educational-informative film.

Part I of the publication focuses on the transparency of judicial authorities, above all the courts, Part II on the use of PTD and alternatives to PTD and Part III on the status and treatment of detainees. The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection Rodoljub Šabić, European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judge Dragoljub Popović, Supreme Court of Cassation judge Radmila Dičić Dragičević, lawyer and former member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) Ivan Janković, Deputy Protector of Citizens charged with persons deprived of liberty Miloš Janković and Tadej Kurepa, a political scientist and former detainee, feature in the film.

The entire project and the publication of this document have been financially and professionally supported by the Open Society Foundations via the Hungarian Helsinki Committee. The BCHR bears sole responsibility for the content of the publication and the views expressed in it cannot be taken as representing the positions of the Open Society Foundations or the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.

The BCHR owes its gratitude to the Basic and Higher Courts, the representatives of which facilitated its monitoring visits, and the Ministry of Justice and State Administration, which provided all the required information at its disposal for the research. We are equally grateful to the Offices of the Protector of Citizens and Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, which supported this project; the main characters in our film and its producer Marko Petrešević; Jovana Zorić and Nevena Dičić Kostić for their participation in the research; Darko Jojić and Tamara Protić Milutinović for their logistic support; and Mr. Martin Schoenteich for his professional and constructive advice during the design of the project activities.

[1] More on this project is available at www.bgcentar.org.rs. available on Serbian: http://www.bgcentar.org.rs/smanjenje-prenaseljenosti-u-zatvorima-u-srbiji-kroz-monitoring-javno-zagovaranje-i-razmenu-najboljih-praksi/#more-398