Q:
A:
Rehabilitation – precondition for legal state, democracy in Serbia
Belgrade,
20 May 2008
State Secretary of Justice Snezana Malovic stated today that the initialling of rehabilitation and the return of nationalised property are preconditions for a moral renewal of the Serbian society and the creation of a legal state and democracy.
Milica Cubrilo
Author:
Tanjug
At a roundtable discussion themed "Rehabilitation of Political Convicts", held at the Belgrade Faculty of Law, Malovic stressed that a working group has been formed to draft amendments to the existing Law on rehabilitation, which has been in effect since 2006.
According to her, it is necessary to re-examine certain solutions offered by the law in accordance with judicial practice and to legally regulate the issue of compensation to victims, as well as other details which have not been dealt with.
She recalled that by law, the right to rehabilitation can be exercised by all those who have been deprived of their rights in the period from April 6, 1941 until the year 2006, when the law came into effect. All court decisions against these persons will be considered null and void.
Minister for Diaspora Milica Cubrilo noted that the right to property and the freedom of thought are the foundations of the European legislature to which Serbia’s legal system also belongs, and added that joining the EU and the world, attracting investments and the creation of new jobs all depend on the renewal of these foundations.
She stressed that a large number of victims of the autocratic regime, as well as their descendants, live abroad embittered with the state’s indifference to the injustice done to them.
Head of the Studenica Foundation in San Francisco Michael Djordjevic said that rehabilitation and restitution are two inseparable issues, and remarked that the Serbian nation will remain ideologically divided until all victims of the communist regime are rehabilitated and their assets returned.
The roundtable discussion was organised by the Ministry for Diaspora and the Serbian Unity Congress from Washington, the Studenica Foundation from San Francisco and the Serbian Unity Congress from Austria.
Participants were authors of expert works which include legal viewpoints, court rehabilitation, secret service dossiers, victimology and repression in Serbia from 1944 to 1945.
The subjects of discussion were, “Rehabilitation as the first measure after the removal of authoritarian regimes”, “Rehabilitation as a condition for the moral revival of the Serbian society and the legal condition for building a democratic society in Serbia”, “Controversies regarding the Serbian Law on rehabilitation”, “Implementation of the Law on rehabilitation – to which degree it fulfills the purpose of rehabilitation”.
According to her, it is necessary to re-examine certain solutions offered by the law in accordance with judicial practice and to legally regulate the issue of compensation to victims, as well as other details which have not been dealt with.
She recalled that by law, the right to rehabilitation can be exercised by all those who have been deprived of their rights in the period from April 6, 1941 until the year 2006, when the law came into effect. All court decisions against these persons will be considered null and void.
Minister for Diaspora Milica Cubrilo noted that the right to property and the freedom of thought are the foundations of the European legislature to which Serbia’s legal system also belongs, and added that joining the EU and the world, attracting investments and the creation of new jobs all depend on the renewal of these foundations.
She stressed that a large number of victims of the autocratic regime, as well as their descendants, live abroad embittered with the state’s indifference to the injustice done to them.
Head of the Studenica Foundation in San Francisco Michael Djordjevic said that rehabilitation and restitution are two inseparable issues, and remarked that the Serbian nation will remain ideologically divided until all victims of the communist regime are rehabilitated and their assets returned.
The roundtable discussion was organised by the Ministry for Diaspora and the Serbian Unity Congress from Washington, the Studenica Foundation from San Francisco and the Serbian Unity Congress from Austria.
Participants were authors of expert works which include legal viewpoints, court rehabilitation, secret service dossiers, victimology and repression in Serbia from 1944 to 1945.
The subjects of discussion were, “Rehabilitation as the first measure after the removal of authoritarian regimes”, “Rehabilitation as a condition for the moral revival of the Serbian society and the legal condition for building a democratic society in Serbia”, “Controversies regarding the Serbian Law on rehabilitation”, “Implementation of the Law on rehabilitation – to which degree it fulfills the purpose of rehabilitation”.
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