The Constitutional changes in the Republic of Serbia with special emphasis on the Working Version of the Draft Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia in the part relating to the judiciary Cover Image

Ustavne promene u Republici Srbiji sa osvrtom na radni tekst amandmana Ministarstva pravde na Ustav Republike Srbije u delu koji se odnosi na pravosuđe
The Constitutional changes in the Republic of Serbia with special emphasis on the Working Version of the Draft Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia in the part relating to the judiciary

Author(s): Maja Prelić
Subject(s): Constitutional Law, Civil Society, Politics and law, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment, Sociology of Law
Published by: Fondacija Centar za javno pravo
Keywords: Republic of Serbia; Constitution; Working text; EU Accession; Government; civil society;

Summary/Abstract: Within the EU Accession process, the Republic of Serbia, by adopting the Action Plan for the Chapter 23, undertook the obligation to amend its Constitution in the part related to the judiciary. In this regard, the Ministry of Justice drafted and, on January 22nd, published the Working Version of the Draft Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia taking into account the summary of six-month long consultative process with civil society conducted during last year. This paper analyzes new solutions that have been proposed by the Working text, as well as the most significant differences between them and the current Constitution. Among other things, the Working text proposes the exclusion of the National Assembly from the appointment process of judges, the removal of the probationary period for judges, revised composition and expanded jurisdiction of the High Judicial Council. Some of the proposed solutions were very welcomed by the public while others are strongly criticized. Anyway, the path between the Working text and the adoption of the Constitution is very long and all stakeholders, including the Government, civil society and the academia, need to put the effort to achieve the best result at the end, which is, naturally, to have an independent and accountable judiciary at the service of citizens.

  • Issue Year: 9/2018
  • Issue No: 31
  • Page Range: 27-34
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian