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The final competition in the simulation of trials as part of the project “Hate crimes Moot court for Young Lawyers of Southwestern Serbia” was realized on 13 March 2020 in Novi Pazar at the premises of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Training Center.
The competition was held as one of the final activities of the project ” Hate crimes Moot court for Young Lawyers of Southwestern Serbia”, implemented by OCD Monitor since October 2019, with the financial support of the United States Embassy in Serbia.
Within moot court competition of hate crime trials 5 teams (with 40 participants in total), composed of young lawyers and law students from Novi Pazar, prepared for the last 6 months by local mentors (judges, prosecutors, attorneys and professors of criminal law), performed 5 simulations of criminal proceedings cases of hate crimes. Each of the simulations is based on a different hate motive. The aim of this event, as well as the whole project, is to teach young lawyers in our city how to handle the role of procedural subjects in hate crimes cases by working on simulated cases. At the same time, by recording the entire simulation courtrooms and posting them on our organization’s youtube channel, we want to set an example for others how to proceed in trials of hate crime cases within the meaning of Article 54a of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia.
We want to emphasize that the institute of hate crime was introduced into the criminal legislation of the Republic of Serbia in 2012, by prescribing Article 54 of the Criminal Code, which states that if the crime was committed out of hatred on account of race and creed, national or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation or the gender identity of the other person will be regarded by the court as an aggravating circumstance, unless it is prescribed as a characteristic of the criminal offence.
Although this institute has existed in our legal system for 8 years, the number of judgments in which it has been applied by the courts is still very small, although the number of crimes committed is motivated by hatred is much bigger according to the reports of numerous non-governmental organizations. The problem with the implementation of this institute lies in the fact that it is a relatively new institute of our domestic legislation, as well as in the fact that there are numerous doubts as to when, under what conditions and how Article 54a of Criminal Code should be applied.
For this reason, in order to increase the capacity of the judiciary in terms of the implementation of the hate crime institute, CSO Montior created one such project that is unique in Serbia and beyond in its methodology and theme, and the United States Embassy in Serbia made it possible to realize it with their financial support.
At the final competition of a simulation trial, five simulations of the main trial for the existence of a hate crime committed on the basis of hate motives due to the following characteristics: race, nationality, sexual orientation, gender and religious affiliation, were performed.
The following awards were given to the best participants of the program, and following the selection of a committee made up of their mentors:
- MSc Aldin Mavrić, Master of Laws – Best Program Attendant;
- Naida Bošnjak, trainee at the Basic Court in Novi Pazar – best written indictment;
- Elma Rušović, trainee at the Higher Court in Novi Pazar – best representation of the indictment at the main trial;
- Veselin Veselinović, law student – best written response to the indictment / selected defense strategy;
- Demir Crnovršanin, Lawyer Trainee – best Representation of Defense at the Main Trial;
- Ševal Kadrija, an intern at the Basic Court in Novi Pazar – best written judgment
- Aiša Kadrić, Trainee at the Higher Court in Novi Pazar – best Trial at the Main trial;
- Suad Kadric, Law Student – best played witness Role;
- Anes Musić, law student – best played role of victim;
- Demir Vesnić, law student – best played role of accused.
On behalf of OCD Monitor we would like to thank all the young lawyers who responded to our call and contributed with their participation to the successful realization of this project.
We would also like to thank Dr Jasmina Kiurski and Tamara Mirović from the Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office, as well as Jelena Jokanović from the OSCE Mission to Serbia for their unselfish assistance in the implementation of the three-day training for the participants of this program. Next, we would like to thank the mentors who have worked with the program participants in the past 6 months through the mentoring sessions: Dr. Emir Ćorović, Associate Professor, Department of Law, State University of Novi Pazar; Doc. Dr. Aladin Šemović, a attorney from Novi Pazar; Adnan Baćićanin, Deputy High Public Prosecutor in Novi Pazar; Azra Fetahović, Deputy Prosecutor of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Pazar; prof. Dr. Aleksandar R. Ivanović, Associate Professor, Department of Law, International University of Novi Pazar; prof. Dr. Aleksandar B. Ivanović, Head of the Forensic Center of the Police Directorate of Montenegro; MSc. Samri Dečković, Assistant Professor at the Law Department at the International University of Novi Pazar; Doc. Dr. Marko Novaković, Research Associate at the Institute for International Politics and Economy, and Doc. Dr. Dragana Randjelović, Head of the Department of General and Administrative Affairs of the Faculty of Electronic Engineering in Niš.
We also thank Ms. Micaela Thurman, Head of the Office in Novi Pazar, OSCE Mission to Serbia, and her team for their assistance in implementation of mentoring sessions and the final moot court competition.
Lastly, on behalf of OCD Monitor, we take the opportunity to once again thank the US Embassy in Serbia for its financial support for the realization of this project.
@USEmbassySerbia #U.S.Embassy Belgrade #USEmbassySerbia #USEmbassySerbia
