In the judicial system of the Republic of Serbia, the right to a trial within a reasonable time represents a fundamental human right that guarantees efficient and fair judicial proceedings. However, in reality, many individuals face lengthy court processes that often exceed the bounds of a reasonable time frame.
Our law office is dedicated to protecting the rights of its clients, including the right to a trial within a reasonable time.

 

What Does the Right to a Trial Within a Reasonable Time Mean?

The right to a trial within a reasonable time means that every citizen of the Republic of Serbia has the right for their case to be resolved in accordance with the law, without unnecessary delay. This right is crucial for preserving legal certainty and respect for the legal order.

Despite legal provisions guaranteeing the right to a trial within a reasonable time, many individuals face a number of challenges during court proceedings. These challenges may include unnecessary delays, lack of court resources, and procedural complications.

Legal Remedies for Protecting the Right to a Trial Within a Reasonable Time

The purpose of the Law on Protection of the Right to a Trial Within a Reasonable Time is to provide judicial protection of the right to a trial within a reasonable time and thus prevent violations of that right.

Judicial protection of the right to a trial within a reasonable time also includes the investigation conducted by the public prosecutor in criminal proceedings.

The right to a trial within a reasonable time is held by every party in court proceedings, which includes enforcement and non-contentious proceedings. In criminal proceedings, this right is held by the injured party, private prosecutor, and the injured party as prosecutor only if they have asserted a property claim.

The legal remedies for protecting the right to a trial within a reasonable time are:

1) Objection to expedite proceedings (prigovor radi ubrzavanja postupka)

2) Appeal (žalba)

3) Request for just satisfaction (zahtev za pravično zadovoljenje)

The party does not pay court fees in proceedings protecting the right to a trial within a reasonable time. These proceedings are urgent and have priority in decision-making.

When deciding on legal remedies for protecting the right to a trial within a reasonable time, all circumstances of the case are taken into account, primarily the complexity of factual and legal issues, the overall duration of the proceedings and conduct of the court, public prosecutor’s office or other state authority, the nature and type of the case or investigation, the importance of the case or investigation to the party, the conduct of the parties during the proceedings, particularly respect for procedural rights and obligations, then respect for the order of case resolution and statutory deadlines for scheduling hearings and main trials and drafting decisions.

Objection and Appeal

An objection and appeal may be submitted until the proceedings are concluded. The procedure for protecting the right to a trial within a reasonable time begins with the submission of an objection.

The objection must contain the following mandatory elements:

1. Personal or business name of the party and their place of residence, temporary stay or registered office
2. Personal or business name of the party’s representative or attorney and their place of residence, temporary stay or registered office
3. Name of the court conducting the proceedings or before which the proceedings are being conducted, as well as the name of the public prosecutor’s office conducting the investigation
4. Business number of the court case or public prosecutor’s office case
5. Duration of the proceedings, including the duration of the investigation conducted by the public prosecutor
6. Information about the subject of the proceedings indicating that the court is unnecessarily delaying decision-making
7. Information about the subject of the investigation indicating that the public prosecutor is delaying the conduct of the investigation
8. Handwritten signature of the party or the party’s representative or attorney

The party submits the objection to the court conducting the proceedings or the court before which the proceedings are being conducted if they believe the public prosecutor has violated their right. The procedure on the objection is conducted by the court president, who also decides on the objection. The court president must decide on the objection within two months of receiving the objection.

The party has the right to appeal if their objection is rejected or if the court president does not decide on it within two months. An appeal may also be submitted if the objection was accepted but the chief public prosecutor did not issue mandatory instructions within eight days, if the court president or chief public prosecutor did not order the judge or public prosecutor to take procedural actions that effectively expedite the proceedings, or if the judge or public prosecutor did not take the ordered actions within the specified time. An appeal may also be submitted if the court president in a decision accepting the objection and finding a violation of the right to a trial within a reasonable time did not set a deadline for taking procedural actions that effectively expedite the proceedings.

The appeal contains the same mandatory elements as the objection.

If the court president did not decide on the objection or the objection was rejected, the appeal is submitted within eight days of the expiration of the two-month period from the date of receiving the objection, or within eight days of the party receiving the decision rejecting the objection. The appeal is submitted to the court president who decided on the objection, who immediately forwards the appeal and case files to the president of the immediately higher court. The president of the immediately higher court conducts the procedure on the appeal and
decides on it.

Request for Just Satisfaction

The right to just satisfaction is held by a party whose objection was accepted and who did not file an appeal, then a party whose appeal was rejected with confirmation of the first-instance decision accepting the objection, and a party whose appeal was accepted.

A party whose objection was accepted and who did not file an appeal, and a party whose appeal was rejected with confirmation of the first-instance decision accepting the objection, acquire the right to just satisfaction when the deadline within which the judge or public prosecutor was obliged to take the ordered procedural actions expires, while a party whose appeal was accepted acquires this right upon receiving the decision accepting the appeal.

Types of just satisfaction are:

1. The right to monetary compensation for non-material damage caused to the party by the violation of the right to a trial within a reasonable time
2.  The right to publication of a written statement by the State Attorney’s Office establishing that the party’s right to a trial within a reasonable time was violated
3. The right to publication of the judgment establishing that the party&’s right to a trial within a reasonable time was violated

The party may file a lawsuit against the Republic of Serbia for monetary compensation within one year from the date they acquired the right to just satisfaction. The basic court in whose territory the plaintiff has their residence, temporary stay or registered office has exclusive territorial jurisdiction to decide on the lawsuit. If the plaintiff has no residence, temporary stay or registered office in the Republic of Serbia, the basic court in the territory of Belgrade has exclusive territorial jurisdiction.