ПРОФЕСИОНАЛИЗАЦИЈА СУДСКОГ ВЕЋА И ПРАВА НА ОДБРАНУ У ВОЈСКАМА СРБИЈЕ И ЈУГОСЛАВИЈЕ У 19. И 20. ВЕКУ
THE PROFESSIONALIZATION OF THE COURT PANEL AND THE RIGHT TO DEFENSE IN THE ARMIES OF SERBIA AND YUGOSLAVIA IN THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY

Author(s): Nenad Ž. Petrović
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, History of Law, Military history
Published by: Institut za strategijska istraživanja
Keywords: professionalization; military courts; lawyers; Serbia; Yugoslavia
Summary/Abstract: In this article, the development of the professionalization of military courts in Serbia and Yugoslavia during the 19th and 20th century is analyzed. From the first Military Court Code in 1864 to 1995, the author considers the following two problems: the composition of the court panel and the right to professional defense. Defense before military courts could only be conducted by officers until the Law on Military Courts was adopted in 1965, and since then civilian lawyers have been allowed to do so, first with limitations (if a military secret could possibly be disclosed) and then without any limitations. The composition of court panels has also been changed: from the initial state where all members of the court were officers-jurors (with no legal knowledge), through the mixed composition, where the majority was the jury element for a long time, to the complete professionalization of court panels (composed exclusively of officers legally qualified), which happened in the period after 1945. Finally, in the 2000s, military courts were abolished and their jurisdiction was transferred to courts of general jurisdiction. Only the first instance Military Disciplinary Courts (in Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Niš), and Higher Military Disciplinary Court in Belgrade as the second instance court are left as a relic, although according to the Constitution and laws they cannot be called courts because they are the bodies that judge disciplinary violations of employees in the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Army.

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