Of this number, 175 requests were approved, 105 denied and one rejected, writes Pobjeda daily.
Spokeswoman for the Municipal Court, Mrs. Marina Kalezic, said that the members of the Judicial Council are those who usually seek an exemption in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and the Civil Procedure Act.
As explained by former Supreme Court judge and now lawyer Lazar Aković, the legislator starts from the premise that judges are common men, and having in mind human nature, the situations in which a judge might not be completely impartial, or could be biased, needs to be addressed in this way.
Even when a judge would be impartial during the trial in which one of the parties is their friend or relative, it is better to apply for the exemption and forward the case to a colleague.
Otherwise, such situations could lead to private conflicts and the destruction of otherwise good relations between judges and those persons.
“Sometimes the actions of judges on a case bring into question their impartiality. When the parties notice this, they may seek to disqualify the judge. The parties are also obliged to give reasons for the request”, explained Aković.
Lawyer Milos Vuksanovic believes that wording in the paragraph 6 of Article 31 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which states that “a judge cannot perform his duty when circumstances exist that raise doubts about his impartiality” is rather vague.
This paragraph, says Vuksanovic, gives room for manipulation to all parties in the process – and not only the defendants, but also to the court, that is, the judges.
However, sometimes it is the judges who, when faced with a case difficult to adjudicate, resort to any means which would allow them to be exempt.
Mr. Vuksanovic gave a concrete example from his practice.
“A few years ago, a witnessed a judge seek exemption citing “close kinship relations with the party” which filed suit, and which I represented. The request was granted, and that my client did not even know the judge”, said Vuksanovic.
He noted this case is still pending in the court.
