Dragoljub Jankovic

BASIC FACTS: He was born in 1945, graduated in law, and served as the president of the First Municipal Court in Belgrade, until he was appointed Minister of Justice of the Serbian Government (March 24th, 1998). He is also a member of JUL (Yugoslav Left) City Council, and a member of the Administrative Council of the Faculty of Law in Belgrade.

WHAT IS HE FAMOUS FOR: As the President of the First Municipal Court, he revoked the victory of the coalition 'Zajedno' in Belgrade, at the local elections in Serbia in 1996.
WHAT ELSE IS HE FAMOUS FOR: While he performed the duty of the president of the First Municipal Court, he was present at Di Stefano's wedding ceremony, where he appeared with a judge who pronounced the acquittal to the bridegroom, but which was openly criticised by the Judge of the Supreme Court, Zoran Ivosevic.

HAVE THERE BEEN MACHINATIONS DURING THE ELECTIONS: "I can assert, with full accountability that no machinations have taken place, both in the case of Belgrade, nor the First Municipal Court, nor even the Parliament elections. The Court has not, under any circumstance, taken away or added the number of votes, nor has it corrected the final results with its verdicts." "The judgments of certain leaders of political parties that the Court was the one to decide in someone’s favor, are not valid. Instead, the Court acted in a totally non-political, undecided and legitimate manner. It did not proclaim the winner or the loser, it only enabled the voting to be repeated, wherever there have been some irregularities."

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF JUDGES: "Can we shift all responsibilities to bad laws, or is it likely that the bad election law served only as a camouflage for certain judges to judge in favour of particular political groups, rather than justice as a whole, without taking any responsibilities?"

THE OBEDIENCE OF JUDGES: "We are obliged to apply the current regulations, not only in this field. Are those regulations good, legal and constitutional - that is up to the Constitutional Court to decide."

WHICH PARTY DOES HE BELONG TO: In the morning, on the day of the elections, he said for the Minister of Justice: " I don't know, could you give me some time and call me later." Shortly afterwards, at noon, he stated that he was a member of the JUL.

ABOUT THE NEW LAW OF THE MASS MEDIA: The law will sanction all "inconsiderate attacks on honour, reputation and dignity of the citizens"; the law will be directed towards "those who slander, insult or violate others, and only those should be worried about or be frightened of this law"; the law will make all those employed in the mass media publish only double-checked and accurate information."

THE FINAL AIM OF THE LAW: "This regulation will secure peaceful life and safety for all citizens."

THE DEFENDER OF THE TRUTH: "At this moment, we are all striving  to make the truth evident to the public, even if false statements, such as the one about the Serbian massacre over the Albanians are in question. In these cases we are willing to invest the maximal energy to disclose the truth by a detailed examination in the Ministry of the field."

THE PATRIOT: "The battle for Kosovo and Metohija is not being fought only on their territories, but on every square meter of our country, and each employed person ought to manifest patriotism and loyalty towards our country, and especially in the case of the judiciary - where no space for defeatism is reserved." However, Minister Jankovic adds that some government officials act in an unacceptable way, and he gives examples of numerous verdicts regarding the return of Albanians to their jobs, which they have left willingly many years ago, and today they return with considerable compensation.

PROTECTOR OF THE DEATH PENALTY: "The abolition of the death penalty should be postponed, due to the latest occurrences in Kosovo and Metohija, or more precisely - the penalty should be prohibited, but putting that decree into effect has to be postponed for a few years, because what is happening to us at the moment is something extraordinary and not yet recorded in the civilised societies."

ABOUT THE ABOLITION: "Perhaps the abolition can be applied in practice, but only to those who were forced to join the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, since there are lots of those, nearly a half."

HOW HE DEFINES HIMSELF: "I am only a judge, not a politician."