USAID

USAID’s five-year Judicial Reform and Government Accountability Project was launched in May 2011. The project strengthens Serbia’s rule of law by improving the transparency and efficiency of the courts, and by assisting independent agencies and civil society in their efforts to make government open and accountable.

The Judicial Reform and Government Accountability Project takes a strategic approach. It:

• Upgrades court facilities through design and financial assistance
  The project upgrades and expands the productivity of court space.
• Improves the transparency, openness, efficiency and safety of the courts
  The project provides technical assistance to help courts improve openness and effectiveness of court administration and case processing.
• Strengthens independent agencies to improve government accountability
  The project works with independent agencies to promote good governance and integrity by making government offices open and accountable, and by fighting corruption and poor administrative practices.
  

• Valjevo, Arandjelovac and Kragujevac Misdemeanor Courts have opened one-stop-shop public-service counters to provide court users with efficient court services and easy access to information about court functions.
• The project’s partner courts have created a “Know Your Court” brochure to assist the public learn about the functions of the Misdemeanor Courts.
• Misdemeanor Courts adopted best practices for more efficient operations, developing methods to reduce case backlogs and drafting amendments to the Misdemeanor Law.
• The State Audit Institution and Misdemeanor Courts launched a series of meetings to address procedural challenges regarding audit violation investigations.
• The Anti-Corruption Agency built and trained a network of political finance monitors to examine the use of campaign funds by political parties during the 2012 elections.
• Six grants have been issued to local organizations to support civil society efforts to promote judicial reform and good governance activities.