The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights is concerned by the continual undermining of judicial independence in Serbia. The executive branch has unfortunately been party to this trend. Serbia’s Justice Minister, the state official charged with ensuring and protecting judicial independence, is of the opinion that he has the right to politically control the work of judicial bodies and does not even try to hide his passionate revanchism.The judicial appointment procedure has been increasingly politicised in such circumstances. The latest example is the candidacy of Vida Petrović Škero for the post of Serbian Supreme Court Chairperson. The disqualifications of her are founded on unproven and implausible assumptions of her political leanings although she is not a member of any party.
The Belgrade Centre can testify to the fact that Vida Petrović Škero is a judge with decades-long experience. She was one of the judges the authoritarian regime illegally dismissed in July 2000 for her independence, impartiality, and resistance to political pressures. She represented the democratic forces in the Federal Constitutional Court when Milošević’s regime attempted to rig the presidential election results in 2000. After the democratic changes in October 2000, Petrović Škero was appointed chairwoman of the Belgrade District Court and subsequently Serbian Supreme Court judge.
The Belgrade Centre urges thorough professional and moral reviews of candidates for all state posts, including judicial offices. This, however, does not entail subjecting them to avalanches of insults and unfounded political insinuations.
