Rules of Procedure

The procedure before the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter: the European Court) begins with the submission of an individual, group or interstate application. Applications are submitted in writing and signed by the applicant or the applicant's attorney. If the petition is submitted by a non-governmental organization or a group of individuals, it is signed by persons authorized to represent that organization or group.

From February 1, 2022, after the entry into force of Protocol No. 15 to the Convention, after the adoption of a final domestic decision within the framework of exhaustion of domestic legal remedies, the deadline for submitting a petition to the European Court was shortened from 6 to 4 months. This new deadline applies only to petitions in which the relevant final domestic decision was made on or after that date)

A) REPRESENTATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA BEFORE THE EUROPEAN BY THE COURT

All communication between the European Court and the Republic of Serbia is carried out via a secure website.

Namely, in cases where the European Court does not reject the application for some procedural reason, it, together with all the accompanying documentation (contested acts and all submitted evidence) is submitted with a letter via a secure website to the RepublicSerbia.

In the letter, the Republic of Serbia is informed about the submitted application and is given a deadline to make a statement about it.

The stages of further action in the representation procedure are:

• seduction and formation of cases;
• assignment of cases to advisors;
• preparation and sending of letters to competent domestic state bodies whose acts or actions led to proceedings before the European Court, in order to obtain relevant information and documentation for a specific case in order to assess the factual situation and legal issues.

After obtaining the necessary documentation, the conclusion is consideredfriendly settlement or signing a unilateral declaration.An amicable settlement can be concluded with the prior consent of the authority whose acts or actions led to the proceedings before the European Court.

If the representative decides not to conclude an amicable settlement, nor to sign a unilateral declaration, he informs the European Court about this by letter within the deadline (usually 12 weeks from the delivery of the case). After that, the European Court leaves the Republic of Serbia an additional period of a maximum of 12 weeks in which the state is obliged to submit its written Observations - defense (1st round of Observations).

• making written observations (1st round)

Observations submitted to the European Court are forwarded by the European Court to the applicant/of the applicant, that is, his/to her attorney. After they state their statements on the state's allegations, their submissions are forwarded to the Republic of Serbia, which is given an additional period (most often up to 30 days) for a statement (2nd round of Observations).

• creation of additional Observations (2nd round)

Since additional Observations are submitted to the European Court, the European Court informs the respondent state that a decision will be made on the submitted application.

B) EXECUTION JUDGMENT AND DECISION

After the European Court issues a verdict/the decision by which it determined that there was a violation of the Convention (or the decision to remove the case from its list due to a friendly settlement reached or a signed unilateral declaration), the execution of the specific judgment is approached/decisions.

States have a legal obligation to correct identified violations, but enjoy discretion as to the means to be used. The measures to be taken are, in principle, identified by the respective state, and these measures can be individual (referring to the individual applicant) or general (allowing similar violations to not occur in other similar cases).

• Individual measures

Enforcement measures must first end the violation and eliminate, as far as possible, its negative consequences for the applicant. This includes the payment of any amount awarded by the European Court as just satisfaction or an amount agreed between the parties in an amicable settlement. Default interest is due in case of delay in execution.

When mere monetary compensation cannot adequately erase the consequences of the violation, the Committee of Ministers ensures that the authorities take other individual measures necessary to remedy the violation. The judgments themselves sometimes contain additional recommendations.

• General measures

Enforcement of judgments also requires the implementation of general measures to prevent violations similar to those established by the European Court (either through changes in the law, case law or through other types of measures). The provision of effective domestic remedies is of great importance.

• Procedure for payment of fair satisfaction

If the European Court in the judgment/the decision determines that an injury has occurred  of the Convention or the Protocol to it, candseparate and fair compensation damagedj side.

Just satisfaction may include the payment of intangible i/or material damages, as well as the costs of proceedings before the European Court.

The deadline for payment is 3 (three) months from the finality of the verdict, that is, 3 (three) months from the date of publication of the decision.

Immediately after the finality of the judgment, i.e. the publication of the decision, the Department for the Representation of the Republic of Serbia before the European Court prepares letters by which the attorneys of the applicants against whom the judgment/decision relations inform that the judgment/decision made, and they are invited to submit the necessary documentation for payment within 15 days from the day of receipt of the letter.example letter (att.)

After submitting proper documentation and instructions for payment, the payment is made.

Payment of the monetary amount in the name of compensationnon-material damages and procedural costs it is carried out more often from the department of the High Council of the Judiciary, while the payment is being madematerial damage performed by the Department of the State Attorney's Office.

If the payment is made from the department of the High Council of the Judiciary, Departmentfor the representation of the Republic of Serbia in front of the European Court, it submits to the High Council of the Judiciary and to the competent court whose acts or actions caused the violation of human rights a notification of the judgment passed/decide. The letter states the exact amount determined in euros for compensationnon-material damages and procedural costs should be paid to the applicant, with a deadline by which the payment should be made. Based on this notification, the High Council of the Judiciary can timely and accurately plan the funds needed for payment, as well as when they will be transferred to a certain court. A specific verdict is attached to the letter/decision, as well as documentation with payment instructions. 

If the payment is made from the Department of the State Attorney's Office, the Department for the Representation of the Republic of Serbia before the European Court prepares a decision on the paymentmaterial damage which is submitted to the accounting office of the Attorney General's Office for payment.

After the payment has been made, the competent court, i.e. the accounting department of the State Attorney's Office, submits to the Department for the Representation of the Republic of Serbia before the European Court the proof that the payment has been made, after which the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court is informed about the payment made by submitting the so-calledJSF (Just Satisfaction Form) form. -example JSF att.

• Procedure for creating Action Plans and Action Reports

The procedure for the execution of the judgments of the European Court, as already mentioned, also implies the implementation of general measures taken by the state so that similar violations do not occur.

The deadline for submission of the Action Plan is 6 (six) months from the date of finality of the verdict.

C) MONITORING AND ANALYSIS OF PRACTICES OF THE EUROPEAN COURT

The Department for the Representation of the Republic of Serbia before the European Court also carries out judicial practice tasks, which include:

• Analysis of the rendered judgments/decision against the Republic of Serbia
• Monitoring and analysis of the practice of the European Court in cases against other states
• Monitoring and analysis of the practice of the Committee of Ministers in the execution procedure

All judgments, as well as the most significant decisions that the European Court makes against the Republic of Serbia, are translated into Serbian and presented in the Representation Department. After that, copies of judgments/decisions in English and Serbian, together with reports, are submitted to all relevant competent state authorities for familiarization and are posted on the Advocate's website. Also, all verdicts and most significant decisions are submitted to the "Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia" for publication.

On a daily basis in the Departmentfor the representation of the Republic of Serbia before the European Court, the practice of the European Court in relation to other member states of the Council of Europe, as well as the practice of the Committee of Ministers in the execution procedure, is monitored and analyzed.

Finally, within the Departmentfor the representation of the Republic of Serbia before the European Courtpreventive measures are also taken in order to raise awareness of the need to respect human rights guaranteed by the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.