Belgrade Appeals Court judge Milimir Lukić quits bench for the bar; prosecutor Milana Boričić follows the same path

Belgrade Court of Appeals judge Milimir Lukić, a jurist with an impressive biography, a vocal critic of the government who was among the first to support the student movement and publicly defended the judiciary, intends, after decades of career, to leave office and move into private practice, Nova.rs reports.

In addition to him, a request for registration with the Belgrade Bar Association has also been filed by the prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office (VJT) in Belgrade, Milana Boričić, who is said to have taken this step due to pressures and disagreements with the prosecution’s leadership, headed by Nenad Stefanović.

The names of Judge Lukić and Prosecutor Boričić have appeared on the candidate list, on whose registration in the attorneys’ registry the Governing Board of the Belgrade Bar Association will decide in the coming days. Why the two jurists with over three decades of experience took this step is not yet officially known.

Judge Lukić is known to the public both for the “big” cases he has adjudicated and for his public appearances in which he openly criticized the current regime. He found himself in the spotlight also after the blockades and student protests, as well as the civic uprising that has lasted almost two full years. He was also one of the speakers at the “Defense of the Judiciary” protest, where a few months ago he called for a work stoppage due to the adoption of the “Mrdić laws.”

“If we remain silent now, the judiciary will not be as regulated by the Constitution of Serbia. Otherwise, Serbia will be ruled by only one power, contrary to the Constitution, imposing its own will in all undemocratic ways, embodied just as these unlawful laws were adopted,” Lukić said at the time.

His persecution within the judicial system began two years ago, when he was first removed from the position of head of the Criminal Department of the Court of Appeals, as well as from the position of head of the Special Department for Organized Crime. His name was mentioned in the “Sky” correspondence exchanged by Darko Šarić, his brother Duško, and other members of the group, which KRIK published in early 2024. In that correspondence he was mentioned in the context of proceedings against Darko Šarić for cocaine smuggling and money laundering as the judge over whom no influence could be exerted, because he does not yield to pressure; the notorious “Oscar” was also mentioned there, whose identity was never officially revealed.

Judge Lukić has been at the Court of Appeals since 2010, while earlier he served at the Special Court for Organized Crime, where he was from its founding in 2003. Before that, he was a judge of the District Court and the Municipal Court in Pristina. Perhaps the most important case in which he was a member of the trial panel was the trial against the murderers of Serbia’s prime minister, Zoran Đinđić.

On the other hand, Prosecutor Boričić, who also has many years of experience behind her, has, according to Nova.rs sources, long had disagreements with the leadership of the Higher Prosecution in Belgrade, mainly with chief prosecutor Nenad Stefanović.