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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Social consensus needed on amendments to Constitution regarding judiciary

Belgrade, 8 April 2021

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic stated today that the rule of law is a very important topic, which is why a social consensus on changes to the Constitution in the field of justice is necessary.

Brnabic addressed the public regarding the constitutional amendments at a press conference attended by Minister of Justice Maja Popovic, Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic and Minister of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue Gordana Comic.

After talks with President of the Republic Aleksandar Vucic and colleagues from the government, she stated that we communicate a lot with EU representatives, international organisations and all other partners on the reforms that we are implementing as a government in that area, but we are not communicating much with citizens.

According to her, what is little known is that 70% of what the government is doing at the moment concerns the rule of law, our commitment to European integration and the acceleration of negotiations with the EU on membership.

The Prime Minister specified that yesterday, she initiated a meeting with Speaker of the National Assembly Ivica Dacic and Minister Popovic on the topic of constitutional amendments.

According to her, the President of the Committee on Constitutional Issues and Legislation Jelena Zaric Kovacevic and President of the Committee on Justice, State Administration and Local Self-Government Vladimir Djukanovic also attended the meeting.

She reminded that the government adopted the initiative to change the Constitution on 3 December last year and forwarded it to the Assembly.

I wanted to see in the consultations whether there is anything that the government can do in addition to speeding up the process and be at the disposal of the Assembly as a legislative pillar of power, Brnabic explained.

According to her, it was agreed that the Committee on Constitutional Affairs would send an invitation to the government to hold a session soon, at which the government's initiative and next steps will be discussed.

We thus go deeper into this process and remain at the disposal of the Assembly for all additional logistical support. We will help organise an additional comprehensive dialogue, if there is a need on that topic, the Prime Minister said.

She reminded that the Minister of Justice initiated a meeting with the Association of Judges of Serbia at the beginning of her mandate, because they were the most critical of the government's amendments in the previous mandate.

Thinking about how important it is to have a social consensus on changes in the judiciary, a good basis for the rule of law, a more efficient and responsible judiciary at the service of citizens and, above all, an independent judiciary, we thought it was important to make the process as inclusive as possible.

She emphasised that the government will support the Assembly in order to reach a social consensus on where we want to go in the field of justice.

Commenting on the objections to the proposed amendments, Brnabic noted that for the first time in Serbia, the public debate on changes to the Constitution lasted for 18 months.

Also, as she pointed out, Serbia went through two rounds of consultations with the Venice Commission regarding the text of the proposed amendments and received its consent to amend the Constitution.

We have met all the best European and world standards, but we still hear criticism, so we want to initiate public hearings with the National Assembly about amending the Constitution, the Prime Minister explained.

Popovic confirmed that all the objections of professional associations will be taken into account in the continuation of the procedure for changes to the Constitution of Serbia in the field of justice.

Joksimovic pointed out that the recommendations of the Venice Commission, which are of exceptional importance in the process of amending the Constitution, say that the proposed constitutional amendments are in accordance with the best procedures and practices that exist in the European Union.

As she pointed out, Serbia is not going to harmonise with some existing model in its constitutional reforms, but is looking for what is best in line with best practices.