OSCE Mission to Serbia, ODIHR and civil society partners to follow elections of prosecutors

BELGRADE, 30 November 2015 – The OSCE Mission to Serbia, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the civil society organization Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM) will monitor on 1 December 2015 the elections of prosecutors to the Serbia’s State Prosecutorial Council (SPC).

The SPC is the body of prosecutorial self-administration. Six of the eleven SPC members, all prosecutors, are chosen through a process of peer election that is subject to approval by the National Assembly.  

“The elections to the State Prosecutorial Council are important not only for the prosecutors, who will select their representatives in their own self-governing body, but also for increasing citizens’ trust in the judicial bodies,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Peter Burkhard.

The OSCE and YUCOM monitors will follow the voting process in all 17 polling stations across Serbia. After the elections, the OSCE Mission to Serbia and ODIHR will publish a report to include findings and recommendations for the reform process of the legal framework governing the SPC.

Following the initial selection in 2010, this will be the second time that Serbian prosecutors are electing their representatives. The OSCE is monitoring the elections upon the invitation of the SPC President. This activity is part of the OSCE’s wider efforts to support the reform of Serbia’s judicial system.