Judiciary

On 17 July 2026 the Government submitted to the National Assembly a draft Law on the Judicial Academy, with accompanying amendments to the Law on Judges and the Law on Public Prosecution. The package makes a certificate of completed Academy training the mandatory precondition for a first appointment as a judge or prosecutor, confirming the Academy as the single entry point into both professions. It entered procedure a day after the Venice Commission's urgent opinion, which found key recommendations implemented but insisted the legislative process remain transparent and inclusive.

On 1 July 2026, the Basic Court in Pancevo found ETF student Andrej Tanko guilty of obstructing an official under the Law on Public Order and Peace, sentencing him to a suspended six-month prison term with a two-year probation period. The charge concerned an August 2025 protest during which Tanko allegedly sprayed a police officer with water. His defense called the process politically motivated and announced an appeal to the Higher Court in Pancevo. Tanko became a symbol of non-violent student resistance in December 2024.

The High Prosecutorial Council held an extraordinary session on June 19 and decided to return all prosecutors removed from the Special Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime under the Mrdić laws, fulfilling one of the Venice Commission's recommendations on judicial reform. Prosecutors Irena Bjeloš and Aleksandar Barac are among those returning; Boris Majlat was also seconded to TOK. At the same session, the HPC seconded several recently appointed, inexperienced prosecutors from basic to higher prosecution offices - a practice the upcoming law amendments will prohibit.