The strike of court employees has entered into its seventh week. Supreme Court President, Radovan Dobronić has spoken about the situation and holds the executive authority to be solely responsible for the situation.
Dobronić also stated that if by the end of this week the Government and the trade unions do not reach an agreement, the juridical administration will not and cannot be held responsible for the consequences of this situation. The courts were brought to an unsustainable state and it has led to an unpleasant situation in which the court officials are so angry that the professional relations between the court recorders and the judges have also been harmed. One of the issues is that the court recorders are treated as support staff even though without them the work cannot proceed normally. This strike is the result of that and the dysfunctional salary policy which led to a larger number of people leaving and no reaction from the executive authority. Immediate consequences due to the strike are the inability of founding a company, registration of real estate ownership, inability to pay off loans and overall suspension of court proceedings. Out of current five thousand cases per month, less than a thousand are resolved.
Furthermore, The Prime Minister’s unwillingness to get in contact with the Supreme Court President sends a negative message about the attitude of the executives towards the courts. Dobronić stated that he will try do everything he can to change the situation but fears that the Government has lost its rational thinking and it is now a question of the functioning of the judiciary.
