Supreme Court of Serbia
Encyclopedia
The Supreme Court of Cassation is the court of last resort in the Republic of Serbia. Formerly called the Supreme Court
of Serbia, it is the Court of cassation
which reviews and possibly overturns previous rulings made by lower courts. It was established in 1846 by a decree of Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević. In the last 160 years since it was established, the Court has asserted its authority within judiciary
in Serbia and beyond. The Supreme Court of Cassation is today authorized by the Constitution of Serbia
and the Law on Organization of Courts.
The building of the Court is located in Belgrade
. The court is composed of 24 judges, one of them being the President of the Court. The current President of the Supreme Court of Cassation is Nata Mesarović.
, while the appeal
s were heard by the Prince himself.
The Supreme Court became the court of cassation
(appellate court
) in 1885 when it was renamed to The Most Glorious Supreme and Cassation Court (Високославниј Врховниј и Касациониј Суд). The Court had a President and eight judges with two chambers. After the reorganization in 1858, the Court was reformed to The Most Glorious Court of Cassation ant it lost the original jurisdiction
, becoming solely the appellate court. The composition of the Court remained the same as before the reorganization. It heard the cases in civil law
, criminal law
, and cases involving the conflict of jurisdiction between the military, police
and civil courts.
The modernization and strengthening of the judicial system in Serbia continued during the Defenders of the Constitution
era (1842–1858). The results of this modernization were the separation of judicial and executive branch, creation of the positive law
, weakening of Prince's autocracy
and implementation of the financial control. After this, Prince Miloš Obrenović
ruled for the second time (1858–1860). This period was marked by further development of the positive law and judicial independence
. After Miloš, his son Mihailo
came to power. He used the Serbo-Turkish War of 1862 to limit the executive
and legislative power, but not the judiciary. The judicial procedure was formalised in this period.
Finally, in 1865, the Law on the Organization of the Courts was passed, and the courts were organized into the district courts, the courts of appeal and the Court of Cassation. According to the Law, the Court of Cassation had three chambers. The Court was composed of 15 judges, one of them being the president. The judges were appointed by the Prince through a decree. The Law gave the Court of Cassation the power of judicial interpretation
instead of the Minister of Justice. The Court was still under the Government's influence, but the judicial independence was constantly strengthening.
The Constitution of 1869, the Constitution of 1888 and the Law on Judges of 1881 confirmed the judicial independence and the three-level court system. An amendment to the Law on the Court of Cassation of 1895 gave the Court of Cassation the power to interprets the law to the lower courts and to give legal opinion
s in certain cases.
In 1901, a new Law on Judges was passed. This Law was very important for the development of the court system. The Court of Cassation became authorized to trie a judge who was found to violates the law.
and with the jurisdiction over the whole nation. This Court was never actually created. The five Cassation Courts continued to work in the Kingdom: the Court of Cassation in Belgrade, the Supreme Court in Sarajevo
, the Chamber of Seven in Zagreb
, the great Court in Podgorica
, and the Department of Belgrade's Court of Cassation in Novi Sad
. Each of these courts had jurisdiction over a specific part of the Kingdom.
The Court of Cassation in Belgrade continued to work with its jurisdiction over all the lower-level courts on the territory of the former Kingdom of Serbia
, as well as on the territory of Banat, Bačka and Baranja
and over the higher, appeal courts in Belgrade, Novi Sad
and Skopje
. After the reorganization of 1922, the Belgrade's Court of Cassation (and its department in Novi Sad) had 35 judges. The Department of the Court of Cassation in Novi Sad had jurisdiction over the territory of Banat, Bačka and Baranja. It had 5 judges. Judges were appointed by the King after the recommendation of the Minister of Justice. Although the courts were independent, this principle was often violated.
New Law on the Organization of the Courts was passed in 1928, and although it again authorized the creation of a single Court of Cassation in Zagreb, it was never formed. The decentralized judicial system proved quite problematic in practice. This led to many cases of conflicts of jurisdiction between the five courts.
During the so-called January 6th Dictatorship
period, the effort were made to unify the courts of the Kingdom. The Supreme Judicial Council was formed in 1929, and it succeeded in the unification of the material law, criminal law
, civil law
and procedural law
in the Kingdom. A single Criminal Code
for all of the Kingdom was passed in 1929. The National Court for the Protection of the State was formed in 1929 as a department of Belgrade's Court of Cassation to protect the public regime and public security. A state prosecutor was appointed for this court. It was mostly deciding in the cases involving insulting of the king and the royal family. This became the highest court in the country, as there was no way to appeal its decision. It worked in chambers of seven judges each. They were appointed by the King on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice. This court later became independent.
, the People's Liberation Comities were enforced by the Communist Party as the bodies of "people's authority
". The Comity for Justice of the National Comity of the Liberation of Yugoslavia demanded the separation of judicial from executive power and judicial independence in the new communist Yugoslavia. In 1945, the Law on the Organization of the People's Courts was passed.
According to the federalism
principle, the Supreme Courts of the six People's Republics became the highest courts in the Republics, and were entitled to decide on all appeals. According to the new communist principles of people's democracy
, non-educated judges were allowed to be members of the courts along with law-educated judges.
Later in 1945, the Supreme Court of Yugoslavia was created with its seat in Belgrade. Judicial power on the territory of the People's Republic of Serbia was given to the "people's courts": municipal courts, district courts and the Supreme People's Court with its seat in Belgrade. It functioned as both trial court
and court of appeals
. The Supreme Court of Serbia had a president, 14 judges and particular number of "people's co-judges" from common population. It had criminal and civil chambers and a disciplinary chamber. The Law proclaimed the courts to be free and independent from other branches of the government.
without original jurisdiction
. The 1963 Constitution of Serbia did not bring any major changes to the judicial organization. This constitution authorized creation of the Constitutional Court of Serbia
for the judicial review
. With the 1971 amendments on the federal constitution, the judicial system was further decentralized, and the organization of the courts became the jurisdiction of the Republics and Autonomous Provinces.
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
of Serbia, it is the Court of cassation
Court of cassation
A Court of Cassation is a high instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation are appellate courts of the highest instance. They are roughly equivalent to supreme courts in other countries...
which reviews and possibly overturns previous rulings made by lower courts. It was established in 1846 by a decree of Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević. In the last 160 years since it was established, the Court has asserted its authority within judiciary
Judiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
in Serbia and beyond. The Supreme Court of Cassation is today authorized by the Constitution of Serbia
Constitution of Serbia
The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia is Serbia's fundamental law. The current constitution was approved in a constitutional referendum, held from on 28–29 October 2006...
and the Law on Organization of Courts.
The building of the Court is located in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. The court is composed of 24 judges, one of them being the President of the Court. The current President of the Supreme Court of Cassation is Nata Mesarović.
Principality and Kingdom of Serbia
The Supreme Land Court (Врховни суд земаљски) of the Principality of Serbia was formed in 1846 as the court of last resort by the decree of Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević. It was composed of the President and four judges. The president and the judges were appointed by the Prince on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice. This Court was a trial courtTrial court
A trial court or court of first instance is a court in which trials take place. Such courts are said to have original jurisdiction.- In the United States :...
, while the appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
s were heard by the Prince himself.
The Supreme Court became the court of cassation
Court of cassation
A Court of Cassation is a high instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation are appellate courts of the highest instance. They are roughly equivalent to supreme courts in other countries...
(appellate court
Appellate court
An appellate court, commonly called an appeals court or court of appeals or appeal court , is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal...
) in 1885 when it was renamed to The Most Glorious Supreme and Cassation Court (Високославниј Врховниј и Касациониј Суд). The Court had a President and eight judges with two chambers. After the reorganization in 1858, the Court was reformed to The Most Glorious Court of Cassation ant it lost the original jurisdiction
Original jurisdiction
The original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a court has the power to review a lower court's decision.-France:...
, becoming solely the appellate court. The composition of the Court remained the same as before the reorganization. It heard the cases in civil law
Civil law (area)
Civil law in continental law is a branch of law which is the general part of private law.The basis for civil law lies in a civil code. Before enacting of codes, civil law could not be distinguished from private law...
, criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
, and cases involving the conflict of jurisdiction between the military, police
Police Court
Police Court is a 1932 American Monogram Pictures drama motion picture starring Henry B. Walthall, Leon Janney, Lionel Belmore, and King Baggot. Directed by Louis King and produced by I. E. Chadwick, the screenplay was adapted by Stuart Anthony from his story...
and civil courts.
The modernization and strengthening of the judicial system in Serbia continued during the Defenders of the Constitution
Defenders of the Constitution
The Defenders of the Constitution was a political regime that achieved power in Serbia in 1842 by overthrowing young Prince Mihailo Obrenović.- History :...
era (1842–1858). The results of this modernization were the separation of judicial and executive branch, creation of the positive law
Positive law
Positive law is the term generally used to describe man-made laws which bestow specific privileges upon, or remove them from, an individual or group...
, weakening of Prince's autocracy
Autocracy
An autocracy is a form of government in which one person is the supreme power within the state. It is derived from the Greek : and , and may be translated as "one who rules by himself". It is distinct from oligarchy and democracy...
and implementation of the financial control. After this, Prince Miloš Obrenović
Miloš Obrenovic I, Prince of Serbia
Miloš Obrenović was Prince of Serbia from 1815 to 1839, and again from 1858 to 1860. He participated in the First Serbian Uprising, led Serbs in the Second Serbian Uprising, and founded the House of Obrenović...
ruled for the second time (1858–1860). This period was marked by further development of the positive law and judicial independence
Judicial independence
Judicial Independence is the idea that the judiciary needs to be kept away from the other branches of government...
. After Miloš, his son Mihailo
Mihailo Obrenovic III, Prince of Serbia
Mihailo Obrenović was Prince of Serbia from 1839–1842 and again from 1860–1868. His first reign ended when he was deposed in 1842 and his second when he was assassinated in 1868.-Early life and first reign:...
came to power. He used the Serbo-Turkish War of 1862 to limit the executive
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
and legislative power, but not the judiciary. The judicial procedure was formalised in this period.
Finally, in 1865, the Law on the Organization of the Courts was passed, and the courts were organized into the district courts, the courts of appeal and the Court of Cassation. According to the Law, the Court of Cassation had three chambers. The Court was composed of 15 judges, one of them being the president. The judges were appointed by the Prince through a decree. The Law gave the Court of Cassation the power of judicial interpretation
Judicial interpretation
Judicial interpretation is a theory or mode of thought that explains how the judiciary should interpret the law, particularly constitutional documents and legislation...
instead of the Minister of Justice. The Court was still under the Government's influence, but the judicial independence was constantly strengthening.
The Constitution of 1869, the Constitution of 1888 and the Law on Judges of 1881 confirmed the judicial independence and the three-level court system. An amendment to the Law on the Court of Cassation of 1895 gave the Court of Cassation the power to interprets the law to the lower courts and to give legal opinion
Legal opinion
In law, an opinion is usually a written explanation by a judge or group of judges that accompanies an order or ruling in a case, laying out the rationale and legal principles for the ruling....
s in certain cases.
In 1901, a new Law on Judges was passed. This Law was very important for the development of the court system. The Court of Cassation became authorized to trie a judge who was found to violates the law.
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
The first Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was adopted in 1921. It enacted the unification of the judicial systems of the countries that formed the Kingdom. It authorized the creation of the singular Court of Cassation of the Kingdom wit its seat in ZagrebZagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
and with the jurisdiction over the whole nation. This Court was never actually created. The five Cassation Courts continued to work in the Kingdom: the Court of Cassation in Belgrade, the Supreme Court in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, the Chamber of Seven in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, the great Court in Podgorica
Podgorica
Podgorica , is the capital and largest city of Montenegro.Podgorica's favourable position at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and the meeting point of the fertile Zeta Plain and Bjelopavlići Valley has encouraged settlement...
, and the Department of Belgrade's Court of Cassation in Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
. Each of these courts had jurisdiction over a specific part of the Kingdom.
The Court of Cassation in Belgrade continued to work with its jurisdiction over all the lower-level courts on the territory of the former Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...
, as well as on the territory of Banat, Bačka and Baranja
Banat, Backa and Baranja
Banat, Bačka and Baranja was a de facto province of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between October 1918 and March 1919...
and over the higher, appeal courts in Belgrade, Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
and Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
. After the reorganization of 1922, the Belgrade's Court of Cassation (and its department in Novi Sad) had 35 judges. The Department of the Court of Cassation in Novi Sad had jurisdiction over the territory of Banat, Bačka and Baranja. It had 5 judges. Judges were appointed by the King after the recommendation of the Minister of Justice. Although the courts were independent, this principle was often violated.
New Law on the Organization of the Courts was passed in 1928, and although it again authorized the creation of a single Court of Cassation in Zagreb, it was never formed. The decentralized judicial system proved quite problematic in practice. This led to many cases of conflicts of jurisdiction between the five courts.
During the so-called January 6th Dictatorship
January 6th Dictatorship
The January 6th Dictatorship was a royal dictatorship established in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by King Alexander...
period, the effort were made to unify the courts of the Kingdom. The Supreme Judicial Council was formed in 1929, and it succeeded in the unification of the material law, criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
, civil law
Civil law (area)
Civil law in continental law is a branch of law which is the general part of private law.The basis for civil law lies in a civil code. Before enacting of codes, civil law could not be distinguished from private law...
and procedural law
Procedural law
Procedural law or adjective law comprises the rules by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil lawsuit, criminal or administrative proceedings. The rules are designed to ensure a fair and consistent application of due process or fundamental justice to all cases that come before...
in the Kingdom. A single Criminal Code
Criminal Code
A criminal code is a document which compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law...
for all of the Kingdom was passed in 1929. The National Court for the Protection of the State was formed in 1929 as a department of Belgrade's Court of Cassation to protect the public regime and public security. A state prosecutor was appointed for this court. It was mostly deciding in the cases involving insulting of the king and the royal family. This became the highest court in the country, as there was no way to appeal its decision. It worked in chambers of seven judges each. They were appointed by the King on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice. This court later became independent.
World War II and its aftermath
During the World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the People's Liberation Comities were enforced by the Communist Party as the bodies of "people's authority
People's Democracy
People's Democracy was a political organisation that, while supporting the campaign for civil rights for Northern Ireland's Catholic minority, stated that such rights could only be achieved through the establishment of a socialist republic for all of Ireland...
". The Comity for Justice of the National Comity of the Liberation of Yugoslavia demanded the separation of judicial from executive power and judicial independence in the new communist Yugoslavia. In 1945, the Law on the Organization of the People's Courts was passed.
According to the federalism
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
principle, the Supreme Courts of the six People's Republics became the highest courts in the Republics, and were entitled to decide on all appeals. According to the new communist principles of people's democracy
People's Democracy
People's Democracy was a political organisation that, while supporting the campaign for civil rights for Northern Ireland's Catholic minority, stated that such rights could only be achieved through the establishment of a socialist republic for all of Ireland...
, non-educated judges were allowed to be members of the courts along with law-educated judges.
Later in 1945, the Supreme Court of Yugoslavia was created with its seat in Belgrade. Judicial power on the territory of the People's Republic of Serbia was given to the "people's courts": municipal courts, district courts and the Supreme People's Court with its seat in Belgrade. It functioned as both trial court
Trial court
A trial court or court of first instance is a court in which trials take place. Such courts are said to have original jurisdiction.- In the United States :...
and court of appeals
Court of Appeals
A court of appeals is an appellate court generally.Court of Appeals may refer to:*Military Court of Appeals *Corte d'Assise d'Appello *Philippine Court of Appeals*High Court of Appeals of Turkey*United States courts of appeals...
. The Supreme Court of Serbia had a president, 14 judges and particular number of "people's co-judges" from common population. It had criminal and civil chambers and a disciplinary chamber. The Law proclaimed the courts to be free and independent from other branches of the government.
Socialist Republic of Serbia
The organization of the courts was not changed until 1955. In 1954, new Law on Courts was passed, accompanied with the Law on Trade Courts and Law on Military Courts. The Supreme Courts of the Republics became solely courts of appealsCourt of Appeals
A court of appeals is an appellate court generally.Court of Appeals may refer to:*Military Court of Appeals *Corte d'Assise d'Appello *Philippine Court of Appeals*High Court of Appeals of Turkey*United States courts of appeals...
without original jurisdiction
Original jurisdiction
The original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a court has the power to review a lower court's decision.-France:...
. The 1963 Constitution of Serbia did not bring any major changes to the judicial organization. This constitution authorized creation of the Constitutional Court of Serbia
Constitutional Court of Serbia
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia is the court authorized to perform judicial review in the Republic of Serbia. It rules on whether the laws, decrees or other bills enacted by the Serbian authorities are in conformity with the Constitution. It is not considered as part of the...
for the judicial review
Judicial review
Judicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority...
. With the 1971 amendments on the federal constitution, the judicial system was further decentralized, and the organization of the courts became the jurisdiction of the Republics and Autonomous Provinces.
Jurisdiction inside court proceedings
The Supreme Court of Cassation decides on regular and extraordinary legal remedies instituted against decisions of all courts in the Republic of Serbia and on other issues prescribed by the law. The Supreme Court of Cassation decides on a conflict of jurisdiction between the courts and the transfer of jurisdiction of courts to facilitate conducting of procedure or other significant reasons.Jurisdiction outside of court proceedings
- determines general legal positions in order to provide uniform application of law by courts;
- provides opinions on draft laws and other regulations relevant for performance of judicial authority;
- analyzes application of laws and other regulations and work of the courts;
- selects the invited members of the High Judicial Council among judges and proposes candidates for one permanent member of the High Judicial Council;
- determines criteria for evaluation of diligent and successful performance of judge’s function;
- determines the activities that are contrary to the dignity and independence of a judge and damaging to the reputation of the court;
- determines the types and manner of advanced training of judges and performs other tasks prescribed by law;
Composition
Current composition of the Court is as follows:- Nata Mesarović, president
- Snežana Andrejević
- Sonja Brkić
- Nevenka Važić
- Radmila Dragičević-Dičić
- Lidija Đukić
- Snežana Živković
- Mirjana Ivić
- Vlasta Jovanović
- Stojan Jokić
- Ljubica Knežević-Tomašev
- Maja Kovačević Tomić
- Vesko Krstajić
- Zvezdana Lutovac
- Milomir Nikolić
- Vida Petrović Škero
- Vesna Popović
- Mihailo Rulić
- Biljana Sinanović
- Anđelka Stanković
- Predrag Trifunović
- Mirjana Ćerasimović
- Bata Cvetković
- Goran Čavlina
External links
- Supreme Court of Cassation of Serbia official website