Belgrade – On October 5, 2016, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and representatives from the Government of Serbia celebrated  judicial reform successes and lessons learned, to mark the closure of USAID’s Judicial Reform and Government Accountability (JRGA) Project, a five and a half year, $20.9 million initiative.

The JRGA Project supported Serbian initiatives to improve the efficiency and transparency of the administration of justice, enhance public awareness of the roles and responsibilities of courts, and counter corruption through greater transparency and accountability of government activities.

“The Project worked with Serbian governmental partners such as the Traffic Police, Treasury, and Central Social Security Registry to set up an electronic data exchange ensuring enforcement of court decisions.  Since March 2014, voluntary compliance for mandatory misdemeanor fines increased from 30% to 74%.  Just as importantly, these improvements resulted in 106 million EUR collected through misdemeanor court fees”, said U.S. Ambassador Kyle Scott during his opening remarks.

In partnership with the Ministry of Justice, the Project renovated 19 misdemeanor courts and implemented a misdemeanor court case management system – SIPRES.  The SIPRES software is a centralized system that enables data exchanges among judiciary partner agencies and network connectivity for all 153 Misdemeanor Courts and units.  The modernization of the physical and electronic infrastructures has created more efficient court services, and easier access to courts and information about court procedures for Serbians. 

Through the Project, USAID also assisted in drafting and implementing the Law on Protection of Whistleblowers, worked with the State Audit Institution on the introduction of performance audits in Serbian auditing practice, and assisted the Anti-Corruption Agency in regulating financing of political activities.