In 2022 the Judicial Holidays will begin on 15 July 2022 and last for one month, until 15 August 2022.
In the period of the Judicial Holidays, the Courts, in accordance with the Courts Act (Official Gazette of the RS, No 94/07 with amendments), operate on a limited basis and therefore, hold hearings and take decisions only in urgent matters, such as in procedures for interim decisions, investigations and adjudication in criminal cases in which the defendant is deprived of liberty, executive matters as regards upbringing and childcare protection, and other cases in accordance with the legislation. In urgent matters, in the period of the Judicial Holidays, the procedural deadlines run normally.
During the Judicial Holidays, procedural deadlines are not running, i.e. deadlines given by the procedural law for performing certain procedural actions in the procedure and court documents are not served. For example, the deadline for payment of the court fee, which is 15 days, is a procedural deadline. In practice, this means that the procedural deadline for payment of the court fee, which started to run before the beginning of the Judicial Holidays, is interrupted and the deadline will begin to run again on the first day following the end of the Judicial Holidays. If the court document has been served during the Judicial Holidays, the procedural deadline will start to run on the first day following the end of the Judicial Holidays.
Despite the above, Courts may rule on non-urgent cases during the Judicial Holidays, but they may only hold hearings if all the parties to the proceedings agree to it.
Judicial holidays, however, do not apply to material deadlines, nor do they suspend them. Material deadlines are deadlines for exercising material rights granted to an entitled person by a material law. The material deadlines are, for example, a deadline for filing the lawsuit arising from the disturbance of property. The legislation provides that judicial protection against the disturbance of property shall be sought within 30 days of the date on which the landlord became aware of the disturbance and the perpetrator. In view of the fact that the material deadlines are not suspended during the Judicial Holidays, it is necessary to the action within 30 days, notwithstanding the fact that the Judicial Holidays are in progress. Missing a material deadline during the Judicial Holidays will result in the loss of the right.
Furthermore, Judicial Holidays refer exclusively to court documents and thus do not affect service according to the rules of administrative procedure or any other non-judicial documents.
In case of any doubt about the running of a certain deadline during the Judicial Holidays, we advise to consult a legal expert.
