USAID Assistant Administrator Brock Bierman Discusses Enforcement with Stakeholders in Serbia

USAID Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia, Brock Bierman, visited the Western Balkan region this month. During the several days he spent in Serbia, Mr. Biermann spoke at the event organized by our USAID Rule of Law Project. A roundtable on the topic of a fairer and more efficient enforcement was organized in cooperation with all relevant stakeholders – the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court of Cassation, and the Chamber of Public Enforcement Officers. Mr. Bierman first met with the Supreme Court president, Judge Milojevic, and State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Radomir Ilic, to discuss USAID’s continuing support to advancing the judicial reform agenda in Serbia and strengthening the rule of law.

Assistant Administrator also spoke at the opening of the event. ‘An effective system of enforcement marks the end of typically lengthy and exhausting civil court proceedings. If inefficient, the entire judicial process that preceded enforcement is rendered meaningless. Without enforcement, a single mother does not receive child support she needs to bring up her children; a worker does not receive pay from an unscrupulous employer; the victim of a car accident doesn’t get compensation for property damage’, Mr. Bierman stated. He also reiterated USAID’s commitment to continuing support to the adoption and implementation of the amendments to the Law on Enforcement and Security, and the important work of Serbian institutions to ensure fair and efficient enforcement procedures.

The event focused on harmonizing practice between courts and public enforcement officers, and properly balancing the rights of citizens with efficient debt recovery in line with standards established in European Court of Human Rights case-law. More than 60 representatives from the judiciary, the Ministry of Justice, public enforcement officers, and other judicial institutions discussed European standards in civil enforcement, as well as the practical application of the principle of proportionality to protect the most vulnerable categories of debtors.