Round tables on disciplinary responsibility of judges – platform for professional discussion

With the Project’s support the Council will organise four round tables on disciplinary responsibility in the period between February and the end of 2020 in Kragujevac, Novi Sad, Niš and Belgrade. The aim of the round tables is to formulate a common stance taken by the disciplinary bodies and interested representatives of the judicial profession on recommendations for the improvement of key issues regarding disciplinary responsibility of judges.

The need to exchange professional opinions on disciplinary responsibility has been around for a long time, but until now it has not been done in the round table format. Round tables on this topic will be a platform for discussion among professionals on the possibilities for disciplinary responsibility to be improved from a legal standpoint, with the participation of the representatives of the judicial profession and other legal professionals. The Council and its disciplinary bodies will thus be able to take stock of all the aspects of professional responsibility of judges; helped by this experience and best practices they will be able to formulate the optimal recommendations for the amendments to legislation governing this field.

There are plans to have discussion on the following topics: (i) justifiability of existing disciplinary offences, (ii) infringement of the Code of Ethics as ground for disciplinary responsibility proceedings, and (iii) disciplinary responsibility of the president of the court – a need for consistent legislative provisions.

Besides the necessary exchange of experience, the planned series of round tables is expected to contribute to raising the awareness of disciplinary responsibility of judges as one of the key issues towards achieving institutional and personal independence of judges.