Serbian court system adopts measures in response to COVID-19 pandemic

As with most countries, Serbia has introduced various measures for combating the COVID-19 pandemic, including implementing changes to the operation of the Serbian court system.

These changes, which should be in force as long as the state of emergency is in effect, include the following general instructions and recommendations:

Postponement of hearings

As a rule, during the state of emergency all court hearings are postponed without the need for an attorney to go to court. It is advisable to address the court before the hearing in a timely manner via written submission, telegram or phone call to announce if you will not be present at a given hearing.

Date of postponed hearings

Some courts have postponed hearings to specific dates later in the year (June 2020 and onwards) while other hearings are postponed indefinitely. In these cases, the parties will be informed on any new scheduled dates via written court summons.

Scope of work of the courts

The courts will, where applicable, continue to work in closed sessions and will continue to issue decisions.

Delivery of submissions

Parties are encouraged to file their submissions either via post or email since the working hours and operations of the court registrar might be subject to special working conditions.

Preclusive deadlines

Please note that the preclusive deadlines (such as deadlines to file the response to the complaint, the appeals, etc.) are not suspended, so we advise that you take every precaution in this matter.

The new measures also include the following specific instructions and recommendations:

Criminal proceedings

The court and public prosecutor will act in criminal proceedings only in following cases:

• When detention is being ordered or requested;
• When specific criminal offences are prosecuted (e.g. illicit trade, failure to comply with health regulations during the pandemic, transmission of infectious disease, etc.);
• When juvenile offenders are prosecuted or if a juvenile is an injured party in criminal offences related to sexual freedom;
• When proceedings in relation to domestic violence are initiated;
• When there is a risk of an expiry of the statute of limitation for a criminal offence; and
• When proceedings are initiated for criminal offenses committed during a state of emergency and in connection with a state of emergency.

Civil proceedings

The court will act in civil proceedings only in following cases:

• When the court must decide on interim measure (i.e. to order, extend or terminate the measure);
• When the court must decide in urgent proceedings (e.g. bankruptcy, possession disputes, etc.);
• When the court must decide on protection measure in cases of domestic violence;
• When the court must decide on a proposal to ban the distribution of the press and information by the media,
• When the court must decide on retention in a healthcare institution performing activities in the field of neuropsychiatry; and
• When the court must decide on enforcement on enforceable documents related to family relations.

In cases where a court holds a hearing after all, the court is advised to accept a request for the hearing's postponement if the attorney or party is over 60 years of age, has chronic health problems or has a child under the age of 12 years.

The request for postponement should be accompanied by written proof on the existence of the postponement reasons and, if applicable, written consent to postpone from the attorney’s principal. The above request and enclosures can be submitted to the court via telegram or email.

Misdemeanour proceedings

The court will act in misdemeanor proceedings only in following cases:

• When juvenile offenders are prosecuted or if a juvenile is an injured party in criminal offences related to sexual freedom;
• When proceedings for domestic violence are initiated;
• When proceedings for public law and order are initiated;
• When there is a risk of the expiry of the statute of limitation for misdemeanor offences;
• When there are a large number of requests for initiating proceedings for misdemeanours that were performed during the state of emergency and are connection with the state of emergency.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter, feel free to contact Nedeljko Velisavljević and Nenad Kovačević or your regular CMS advisor.