The government will soon put to e-consultation amendments to the laws on courts and the State Attorney's Office (DORH) which recommend mandatory vetting for all judges and prosecutors every five years, Vecernji List daily said on Monday.

Under the amendments, the heads of courts and local state attorney’s offices will ask the Security and Intelligence Agency, via the Justice Ministry, to do the vetting.

A collective body within the Supreme Court and DORH would assess if there are security obstacles, while the president of the Supreme Court, the attorney general and the justice minister would only take note of the findings.

If this body finds that there are obstacles preventing a judge from remaining in office, it will notify all authorised initiators of disciplinary action which would take action at the State Judicial Council.

All judges who have not been vetted in the five years before the amendments are passed will have to be vetted within three months of the passage. This would also apply to state attorneys.

The amendments also envisage the establishment of family departments at municipal courts. Only judges meeting special professional requirements will be able to work at those departments. They will be appointed by the president of the Supreme Court to a term of five years at the recommendation of municipal court presidents.

Furthermore, the amendments introduce mandatory permanent training for judges and prosecutors instead of “at least once a year” as is the case now, which often ends up being “once”, the daily said.