USAID

The five-year Separation of Powers Program (SPP) was launched in 2008 to help Serbia move closer to European Union accession by strengthening the judicial and legislative branches of government.

The Separation of Powers Project employs a comprehensive approach. The project:
· Increases judicial and legislative independence
The project increases the capacity of the Serbian judiciary and National Assembly to plan, allocate, acquire, and manage their budgetary resources.

· Improves court administration
The project assists the Serbian judiciary in making the administration of justice more efficient and responsive to the needs of users. It also works to assist courts to improve case management and reduce case backlogs and delays.

· Helped the National Assembly’s (Parliament’s) operations become more transparent, including the development of the National Assembly’s website to improve openness and the public’s access to information.
· Assisted Assembly Members and staff establish budget and long-term planning systems, including the development and adoption of the National Assembly’s Five-Year Strategic Plan, so Parliament can be more responsive to Serbia’s citizens.
· Established the Budget Office of the National Assembly, improving the budget process.
· Provided advice on specific legislation pending before the National Assembly.
· Supported the establishment of the High Court Council Budget Office so Serbia’s judges can assume more control over their own affairs, track the income and expenses of courts more closely, boost their efficiency, and make court operations more transparent and responsive to the needs of court users.
· Assisted the High Court Council to adopt a three-year strategic plan.
· Reduced case backlogs and court processing times in selected partner courtsand produced a Case Backlog Best Practices Guide based on the project's successes for use by other courts.
· Established the Court Manager position, resulting in Serbia's first seven court managers being appointed.