Lawsuits against banks: They lose disputes over illegal processing of loan costs, but do not give up

Lack of judges To reduce the workload of judges due to the influx of so-called mass litigation, that is, repetitive, as they are called in the courts, a greater number of judges is necessary. The system is missing about 200 of them at any one time. Also, as Snezana Bjelogrlic points out, Belgrade should have more courts than the existing number, because it is difficult to efficiently run the court with a large number of employees.

Therefore, other hearings are scheduled for 2022, Judge Ivana Josifović of Novi Sad, president of the Board of Directors of the Association of Judges and Prosecutors, confirmed to Novosti.

“I had in my hands a copy of a file from the Third Court of First Instance in Belgrade, where the judge had to schedule a hearing for April 13, 2022, because there are more than 2,000 pending cases. The influx of lawsuits is so great that the courts are unable to deal with other civil cases. In just one day, the Novi Sad Court of First Instance received 1,500 lawsuits against banks, and civil and criminal registrars were hired to help form the cases. and seduce, ”says Josifović.

The first and third basic courts in Belgrade are the most burdened. According to the data sent to the aforementioned list by Bojana Stanković of the First Court of First Instance, only from the beginning of this year until November 20, 39,030 lawsuits were received in which the bank is a party.

“In more than 99 percent of cases, the bank is at the defendant’s capacity, based on the dispute ‘unjust enrichment’ and ‘determination.’ The 39,030 cases mentioned represent 76.17 percent of the total number of cases received in the ‘P’ register this year. Divided by the current number of judges in the litigation, each of them received an average of 89.45 cases in which the party is a bank, “says Stanković.

In the Third Court of First Instance, as they say, they do not have such precise data, but they confirm that 43,922 civil cases have been registered since the beginning of the year, and civil judges have an average of 2,000 ‘P’ cases in their work. During September and October they received an average of 250.

Photo: Depositphotos, minervastock

Change of jurisdiction One of the solutions could be, agree Novosti interlocutors, that the courts according to the place of residence or domicile of the plaintiff, and not the defendant, that is. banks. Therefore, not all cases would merge in Belgrade and Novi Sad. In addition, the eviction of cases to the courts of the interior would help.

“The jurisprudence in these cases has crystallized and all instances have confirmed that the banks did not have the right to process the costs of the loans. It has crystallized until the Supreme Court of Cassation, which rejects the requests for review of the processes presented by the banks. However, they do not accept “That is why we called on the state to form a working group, and find a way to protect the judicial system, because of the citizens, who will be threatened with the right to a trial within a reasonable time. and then they will sue the state, “Josifovic said.

The Association of Judges agrees with this, whose president Snežana Bjelogrlić notes that they have repeatedly raised the issue of overburdening judges and have called on the state to react.

“The Belgrade courts are the most crowded, which the government has recognized in the National Judicial Reform Strategy. A large number of old cases are waiting while the disputes against the banks are resolved. It is true that the hearings are scheduled for 2022, imagine when they will be decided! be in the amendment of the Law on the Organization of Courts and the change of jurisdiction, the change of the network of courts and the amendment of the Law of Civil Procedure “, says Bjelogrlić.