Poll on judiciary reform opens

BELGRADE: Serbia took a step closer to joining the European Union yesterday, as voters in the Balkan nation went to the polls to decide on whether to change the constitution to create a more independent judiciary in line with the 27-member bloc’s standards.

Shielding judges and prosecutors from political influence is a key step in aligning the former Yugoslav republic’s laws with the EU. If the ballot measure is approved, the power to appoint and fire members of the judiciary would be taken from the government and the legislature and given to top judges and academics.

Serbia has sought EU membership for more than a decade, though the country’s dispute with its former province Kosovo, which seceded in 2008, has proved a stumbling block for accession talks. With resistance to enlargement building within the EU, Serbia’s prospects for joining seem to have dimmed.

The planned amendments will strengthen the rule of law through a more independent judicial system and address the shortfalls of an earlier overhaul from 2009, said Justice Minister Maja Popovic, as she called for high voter turnout.

“Only an independent judiciary and an independent public prosecutor’s office guarantee citizens’ rights and legal protection in court proceedings,” Ms Popovic said in a statement.

A “yes” vote would open the path to amending the nation’s constitution; changes would still require parliamentary approval. Polls opened at 7am local time and closed at 8pm yesterday.

The referendum will also be a gauge of support for President Aleksandar Vucic and his ruling Progressive Party less than three months before parliamentary and presidential elections due in early April. Mr Vucic’s party won by a landslide in 2020, when mainstream opposition groups boycotted the ballot over campaign conditions.

Still, the overhaul has deepened divisions in Serbia’s already polarised politics, as opposition groups from both the left and right urged voters to reject the measure or sit out the ballot.

The new rules are a “privatisation” of state powers and hands control over the judiciary to a small, unelected group, according to Sasa Radulovic, a former economy minister and eurosceptic who heads Enough is Enough party.

“[This way] it won’t be possible to change any bad judges or prosecutors,” Mr Radulovic said. “They will keep appointing each other.”