Breaking Down Serbia's 2022 Constitutional Amendments
Breaking Down Serbia's 2022 Constitutional Amendments

Author(s): Sava Mitrović
Subject(s): Politics, Constitutional Law, Politics and law
Published by: Centar za evropske politike CEP
Keywords: 2022; Serbia; politics; Constitution; amendments;
Summary/Abstract: 1. Political and strategic reasons (EU membership as Serbia’s foreign policy priority)∙ Stabilisation and Association Agreement emphasises the importance of harmonisation with EU law in the field of judiciary ∙ The EU Negotiating Framework for Serbia underlines the necessity to implement key reforms in the area of rule of law, including the judicial reform ∙ The Screening Report on Chapter 23 indicated that Serbia should consider amending its Constitution in the area of judiciary, bearing in mind the recommendations of the Venice Commission and European standards∙ Judiciary and fundamental rights are emphasised as key conditions for accession to the EU in the new methodology within the first cluster (Fundamentals) 2. Constitutional reasons (weakness of the current Constitution in the area of judiciary) ∙ Excessive influence of the National Assembly on the election and dismissal of judges and public prosecutors ∙ Presence of the Executive branch in the appointment of judicial officials in justice through the membership of the Minister of Justice in the High Judicial Council and the State Council of Prosecutors and the right of the Government to propose the election and dismissal of the Republic Public Prosecutor and other public prosecutors ∙Existence of probationary period of judges and deputy public prosecutors once they are first appointed ∙Lack of constitutionally defined ground for termination judicial and public prosecutorial functions and reasons for dismissal ∙ Inconsistency of the Constitutional text in the area of judiciary.

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