Open Doors of the Judiciary
The Judges’ Forum of Serbia is participating in the project “Open Doors of the Judiciary,” which is supported by USAID. The aim of the project is to strengthen citizens’ trust in the work of judicial institutions in the Republic of Serbia by improving communication between citizens and the judiciary. The project is implemented by a coalition consisting of 12 organizations engaged in human rights and democratic development, as well as professional judicial associations.
Project title: Open Doors of the Judiciary
Project duration: January 7, 2019 – January 6, 2022
Donor: USAID
Project lead: Human Rights Committee – YUCOM
About the project
The overall goal of the “Open Doors of the Judiciary” project, supported by USAID, is to strengthen citizens’ trust in judicial institutions in the Republic of Serbia by improving communication between citizens and the judiciary.
The project is implemented by a coalition of 12 organizations engaged in human rights and democratic development, as well as professional judicial associations:
- Human Rights Committee (YUCOM)
- Center for European Policies (CEP)
- Association of Public Prosecutors and Deputy Public Prosecutors of Serbia
- CHRIS Network – Network of Human Rights Committees in Serbia
- Judges’ Association of Serbia
- Transparency Serbia
- Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP)
- Partners for Democratic Change Serbia (Partners Serbia)
- Belgrade Centre for Human Rights
- Centre for Judicial Research (CEPRIS)
- People’s Parliament Leskovac
- Judges’ Forum of Serbia
One of the three core objectives of the project is to establish a proactive relationship between judicial representatives and citizens, and to improve public understanding of the judicial system, thereby enabling citizens to better understand their rights and how to exercise them. The project seeks to achieve this through several communication channels adapted to different social groups, age groups, and levels of education. These include communication via a digital platform, digital media, and blog posts, as well as local councils in 15 cities and municipalities across Serbia. The project aims to promote, following the example of developed democracies, the principle of open dialogue between citizens and the judiciary and to encourage greater civic engagement in local communities. The task of the project is to help citizens better understand constitutionally guaranteed rights, as well as to familiarize them with how the judicial system functions and how judges and prosecutors make fair and rational decisions.
The second objective of the project is for participating organizations to research and identify the primary needs of citizens in their everyday experiences with the judiciary in Serbia. This activity seeks to understand and analyze the reasons behind citizens’ low trust in the judicial system through extensive monitoring of their experiences in contact with the judiciary. As a result of this activity, the coalition will produce three comprehensive reports to serve as a basis for further public policy formulation that addresses citizens’ needs.
The final objective of the project is to strengthen the accountability and integrity of judicial institutions. Through cooperation with representatives of the judiciary and civil society organizations, and by improving the methodology of integrity plans and establishing an open complaints procedure allowing citizens to freely submit grievances, the project aims to enhance the integrity and accountability of judicial institutions, making them more transparent, accessible, and more responsive to citizen engagement.
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