Belgrade Court of Appeal: mutual legal assistance is no guarantee that SkyECC evidence was lawfully obtained

On 23 July 2025 the Special Department of the Belgrade Court of Appeal upheld the appeals of several defendants in an organised-crime case, quashed the decision of the Higher Court in Belgrade confirming the indictment of the Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime, and referred the matter back. The main grounds concerned jurisdiction over Serbian nationals located in Spain, the speciality rule after Spain's limited extradition, and parallel Spanish proceedings on the same facts. On the SkyECC material from 2019 to 2021, the court held that the first-instance court must first assess its lawfulness: it must establish whether the defendants were subject to secret surveillance measures, which court ordered them and how the material was obtained. Delivery through international legal assistance and collection by a foreign authority are no guarantee that the evidence is lawful.