CMS Expert Guide to Digital Litigation in Serbia

The digitalisation of the Serbian civil justice system has been a slow process and only a small portion of the Serbian civil justice system has been digitalised.  There are online services such as the Portal of the Judiciary of Serbia and the “e-sud” application as well as the option of filing court submissions by e-mail, and hearing parties and witnesses via videoconferencing.

The Portal of the Judiciary of Serbia offers information on legal proceedings before all Serbian courts barring the Constitutional court, which has its own information page. The Portal provides information on the status of the proceedings (e.g. hearing dates, hearing postponement, filed submissions court decisions, etc.) only and does not provide access to the case documents themselves.

The “e-sud” application was developed in 2018 and is used for filing briefs before the Administrative court. The app allows parties to initiate proceedings before the Administrative court as well as digitally filing submissions in the proceedings before the administrative court. At the moment, the app is exclusively used in proceedings before the Administrative court. The use of the app is not mandatory and is an alternative to physical filing methods (e.g. in person/via post).

The “e-sud” app is planned for use in litigation according to the “Draft amendments to the Law on Civil Procedure” from 2021.

E-mail is a way of filing submissions with the court in litigation if done in accordance with the Law on Civil Procedure, the Law on Electronic Documents, and the Law on Electronic Signature. Submissions in litigation can be filed to the court’s official e-mail address as electronic documents if signed with an electronic signature. Filing submissions via e-mail is not mandatory and is just an alternative to physical filing methods (in person/via post).

The Law on Civil Procedure allows the hearing of parties and witnesses via videoconferencing, using audio or optical recording devices. However, this type of hearing is still rarely used in practice given that an in-person hearing remains the rule in civil litigations.

Although not yet adopted by parliament, the “Draft amendments to the Law on Civil Procedure” from 2021 offer significant innovations toward the digitalisation of litigation. If the “Draft amendments to the Law on Civil Procedure” were adopted, they would introduce the option of filing briefs as electronic documents through the “e-sud” application and lawyers and public authorities would be obligated to file submissions exclusively as electronic documents. These amendments would also introduce the use of digital tools in litigation such as the possibility of holding hearings via video conference and would make it mandatory for all hearings to be recorded in audio or even in video whenever technically possible.

For the time being, the only digital measures available in litigation are filing submissions to the court via e-mail by the parties or their counsel, and the hearing of parties and witnesses via videoconferencing.

Filing submissions via e-mail is not mandatory and is just an alternative to physical filing methods (in person/via post). When it comes to the hearing of parties and witnesses, an in-person hearing remains the rule while a hearing via videoconference is subject to the discretion of the acting judge. 

Currently, Serbia does not have a fully digitalised litigation process in place. The only part of the litigation process that has been made digital is the option to file submissions to the court via e-mail and to hear the parties and witnesses via videoconference if allowed by the acting judge.

The first element that Serbian litigation lacks in order to be fully digitalised is structures set by legislation, which would allow the parties and the court to conduct all communications digitally and would allow for court hearings to be conducted virtually. The second element that is lacking in Serbian litigation and necessary for legislation on digitalisation is the technology that would allow for digitalised legislation.

The legislative framework for digitalised legislation in Serbia began its development through the “Draft amendments to the Law on Civil Procedure” mentioned above, but it is still uncertain whether these amendments will be adopted by parliament. 

There are no specific rules in place that address the use of technology in litigation. The use of technology in legislation is at the moment only addressed in the “Draft amendments to the Law on Civil Procedure” whose adoption by parliament is currently pending.

There are currently no specific projects directly aimed at improving digitalisation processes in litigation.

However, a special body, the Department for e-Judicial System within the Ministry of Justice, was incorporated for the purpose of contributing to the development of the use of information and communication technologies by the judicial bodies, as well as participating in legislative procedures pertaining to regulations applicable to the implementation of information and communication technologies by judicial bodies. This department also engages in monitoring and coordinating activities pertaining to the implementation of information and communication technologies by judicial bodies.

Furthermore, a number of official documents envisaging certain objectives, indicators and guidelines in regard to the implementation of information and communication technologies within the judicial system has been introduced by executive government bodies – the most notable include the ICT System Development Guidelines in the Judicial Sector, adopted by the Ministry of Justice in April 2016, and the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Judiciary Development Strategy for 2020-2025, adopted by the government.

There are currently no rules in place that specifically address the use of AI in litigation. 

Currently, there is no available information on the technical measures aimed at preventing unwanted access or IT security breaches.

As for specific rules on the use of data, the Law on Personal Data Protection prescribes several exceptions on the requirements for data processing and the duties of data processors when data processing is conducted by a judicial body.

We are not aware of any cases where a large number of claims were filed using digital and automated processes.

There are currently no such sophisticated tools or processes either planned or already functioning.