The Administrative Judiciary Reforms in Serbia

Abstract

Judicial control of the administration in Serbia has a long tradition of over 150 years. Initially, this control was exercised by the Council of State, organized according to French models. After World War II, all forms of administrative judiciary were abolished and reinstated as early as 1952, when the competence to resolve administrative disputes was entrusted to common courts, which adjudicated these cases in special chambers. The last phase of the development of administrative judiciary began anew with the creation of specialized judiciary, namely with the establishment of an administrative court in 2010. This court is no longer part of the administration, as it was before World War II, but part of the judicial system. Judicial control of administration is based on the constitutionally guaranteed right to a fair trial. This means that the administrative court decides within a reasonable time on the basis of the law and facts established in the course of a public hearing, and its judgment may be delivered in limited jurisdiction (resulting in a cassation judgment) or full jurisdiction (where the court itself decides the case). This phase of the development of judicial control of the administration is not finished, however, as the administrative judiciary in Serbia has a single-stage structure, and therefore administrative court proceedings are always one-instance. This raises the need for further reforms aimed at introducing two-tier administrative judiciary and increasing its efficiency.