The first 39 professional executors in Serbia took an oath Thursday at the Palace of Justice in Belgrade in front of Justice Minister Snezana Malovic.

Professional executors will carry out the same types of executions as the courts, and will handle only collection of debts incurred for communal and similar services.

The minister told Tanjug that the executors will act in accordance with the law under the oversight of the Ministry of Justice and the Executors' Chamber.

She said the law stipulated that in addition to court executors, Serbia should have a total of 300 professional private executors.

This means creditors will be able to choose whether they want to hire state or private collectors, whom they will have to pay, while the state will use private executors to collect debts for communal services, cell phone bills or parking tickets.

Private executors will not execute court rulings in family or labor disputes, as these matters will stay under the sole jurisdiction of court executors.

The main task of private executors is to speed up the execution process and rebuild trust of investors and creditors in the judicial system.

Private executors are independent professionals who are expected to bring dedication and a high quality of work in line with their knowledge and experience, and they include former judges, lawyers, bankers, entrepreneurs and other highly educated personnel, Vojkan Simic, an assistant to the justice minister, told Tanjug earlier.

Gordana Vukovic, spokeswoman for the First Municipal Court in Belgrade, told Tanjug on Wednesday that the court was expecting a lot less pressure regarding execution jobs.

The First Municipal Court in Belgrade is the biggest court in Serbia and has the largest load of cases awaiting execution - around 1.2 million, which have been under the care of only 35 executors.