The International Cooperation and Legal Assistance Department of the Supreme Public Prosecution coordinates acting upon the requests for international assistance, monitors the trends of changes in the domestic legal framework, European legal practice and ensures acting in accordance with the European standards, ensures the implementation of fast and efficient direct informal legal assistance and the exchange of information through prosecutorial contact points, cooperates intensively with representatives of international organizations and foreign institutions and participates in the work of international prosecutorial networks and bodies.
The International Cooperation and Legal Assistance Department of the Supreme Public Prosecution coordinates the providing of international legal assistance in criminal matters, both by the competent prosecution offices acting upon the requests submitted formally through the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia, as well as through direct cooperation with the representatives of foreign prosecution offices regarding the exchange of information relevant for conducting of criminal proceedings both in the country and abroad, in accordance with the principles of the Second Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, bilateral and multilateral Memoranda of Cooperation and respective norms of the national legislative framework. The list of all Public Prosecution Offices in Serbia can be accessed here.
Supreme Public Prosecution participates in the work of international prosecutorial networks and bodies, such as the Eurojust, the EJN, the Network of EU Prosecutors General (Nadal network), the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors of the Council of Europe (CCPE), the Bureau of T|-CY Committee of the "Budapest" Convention on High-Tech Crime of the Council of Europe, SEEPAG (South-East European Prosecutorial Advisory Group) and others.
It is particularly important to point out that in March 2020, the Supreme Public Prosecution opened a Liaison Prosecutor's Office in the Eurojust (EU Agency for criminal judicial cooperation) in The Hague, the Netherlands, after the Republic of Serbia signed and ratified the Cooperation Agreement with Eurojust in 2019, which intensified the cooperation with this important EU network. The Republic of Serbia, in respect of the number of cases with the Eurojust, continues to be in the top of the non-EU states with which the Eurojust has the greatest cooperation.
Also, the contact point of the Supreme Public Prosecution actively participates in the work of the European Judicial Network (EJN), together with the contact points for the EJN from the EU member states and candidate countries. Along with the Eurojust, the EJN represents one of the most important justice networks in Europe, though which the seeking and providing of international legal assistance in criminal matters is facilitated and made more efficient, through cooperation of contact points and tools such as Judicial Atlas, model forms (Compendium), information on national legal systems, information on conducting specific investigative and evidentiary activities and various forms of international legal assistance in member states (Fiches Belges), etc.
In order to strengthen international cooperation and legal assistance, the International Cooperation and Legal Assistance Department proposes, drafts and organizes the signing of Memoranda of Understanding and Cooperation, which ensure direct contact, immediate communication, exchange of information and more efficient cooperation and acting in cross-border criminal cases. In this sense, the Supreme Public Prosecution of the Republic of Serbia has 31 signed prosecutorial memoranda on cooperation.
The International Cooperation and Legal Assistance Department of the Supreme Public Prosecution carries out intensive bilateral cooperation, organizing working visits of foreign prosecution offices and representatives of foreign judicial institutions to the Supreme Public Prosecution, as well as the working visits of the Supreme Public Prosecution to foreign partners. Also, close international bilateral cooperation is enforced with judicial and police liaison officers of foreign countries in the Republic of Serbia.
The International Cooperation and Legal Assistance Department cooperates intensively with the institutions of the European Union in the process of the EU accession. The Supreme Public Prosecution Office, together with other competent authorities of the Republic of Serbia, actively participates in the implementation of measures from the Action Plan for Chapter 7 "Intellectual Property", the Action Plan for Chapter 23 "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights" and the Action Plan for Chapter 24 "Justice, Freedom and Security", achieving in this process close cooperation with the institutions of the European Union - the Delegation of the European Union in the Republic of Serbia and the European Commission. Also, the representatives of the International Cooperation and Legal Assistance Department actively participate in meetings with the representatives of the European Union in the process of EU accession, as well as in the preparation of reports for these meetings and the contributions to the Annual Report of the European Commission on the Republic of Serbia.
Likewise, the International Cooperation and Legal Assistance Department of the Supreme Public Prosecution participates in the programming and implementation of the EU projects related to the Public Prosecution, including the IPA 2015 project "Procurement of IT equipment and software for case management in public prosecutor's offices", the IPA 2017 project "Support to the prosecutorial system", IPA 2020 project "Technical support for fight against organized crime, financial investigations and cybercrime”, Flexible Facility for Chapter 24 and Flexible Facility for Chapter 23.
The International Cooperation and Legal Assistance Department of the Supreme Public Prosecution cooperates with international organizations and foreign judicial bodies in professional development projects for the Public Prosecution, participating in and/or organizing the participation of the representatives of the Public Prosecution in numerous seminars, workshops, international conferences and study visits on the topics of organized crime, economic crime, corruption, money laundering, high-tech crime, domestic violence, trafficking in people, narcotics and weapons, international legal cooperation, etc. In this sense, the International Cooperation and Legal Assistance Department of the Supreme Public Prosecution, in cooperation with the Judicial Academy, coordinates the implementation of activities in the projects of professional development and training of public prosecutors, together with the OSCE Mission, the Council of Europe, the U.S. Department of Justice (OPDAT and ICITAP program), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and CEPOL (the EU agency for the law enforcement training), as well as with other international partners within the above-mentioned EU projects.
The Supreme Public Prosecution cooperates with the German Association for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Dutch Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC), who implement regional EU projects, such as the IPA 2017 and IPA 2019 projects "Fight against serious crime in the Western Balkans", within which an EU prosecutor was seconded to the Supreme Public Prosecution and through which the Public Prosecution of the Republic of Serbia was provided with support for operational international cooperation and international legal assistance. Currently, the implementation of the regional project "the EU support to strengthen the fight against migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings in the Western Balkans” is under way.
Department Activities
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The donation of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Embassy to the Republic Public Prosecutor's Office
The Republic Public Prosecutor, Zagorka Dolovac, met today, on December 17th, 2020, with the Amba...
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The Republic Public Prosecutor solemnly opened the Office of the Liaison Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia at Eurojust
The Hague, March 9, 2020. The Republic Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac today in the Netherlan...
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The Serbian state is no longer a safe haven for criminals
Regional Conference on the Co-Operation in Combating Organised Crime in South-East Europe Belgra...
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The donation of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Embassy to the Republic Public Prosecutor's Office
The Republic Public Prosecutor, Zagorka Dolovac, met today, on December 17th, 2020, with the Amba...
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The Republic Public Prosecutor solemnly opened the Office of the Liaison Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia at Eurojust
The Hague, March 9, 2020. The Republic Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac today in the Netherlan...
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Delegation of the Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office visiting the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of the Kingdom of Belgium
At the invitation of the Federal Prosecutor of the Kingdom of Belgium, Mr. Frédéric VAN LEEUW, th...
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Workshop on harmonization of judicial practice in cases related to firearms
Representatives of the Public Prosecution Office of the Republic of Serbia will participate in th...
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Round table of financial investigation in the fight against human trafficking
On 27.09.2024. in Belgrade, in the organization of the "EU4FAST" project, a round table "Conducti...
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Conference on Eurojust support in cross-border cases
Organized by the Supreme Public Prosecution Office and Eurojust, on September 26, 2024 in Belgrad...
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