30 November 2017 The chairmen of the three parliamentary committees with the representative of the Venice Commission

30 November 2017 The chairmen of the three parliamentary committees with the representative of the Venice Commission

Thursday, 30 November 2017

Chairmen of Three Parliamentary Committees Meet with Venice Commission Representative

The chairmen of the committees on Administrative, Budgetary, Mandate and Immunity Issues, on the Judiciary, Public Administration and Local Self-Government and on Constitutional and Legislative Issues, Dr Aleksandar Martinovic, Petar Petrovic and Djordje Komlenski, met today with James Hamilton, representative of the Venice Commission, to discuss the process of constitutional reforms in the Serbian judiciary.


The Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, Public Administration and Local Self-Government Petar Petrovic spoke of the separation of powers as defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia saying that the legislative and executive have no influence on the election of the bearers of judiciary and prosecutorial office since both the majority of the 11 members of the State Prosecutorial Council and the High Judicial Council bear this type of office. The legislative and executive power also cannot directly appoint bearers of judiciary and prosecutorial office even though it is the practice in some European countries, said Petrovic.

The Chairman of the Committee on Administrative, Budgetary, Mandate and Immunity Issues Dr Aleksandar Martinovic said that the judiciary in the Republic of Serbia is completely independent, the courts rule based on the law and Constitution, without outside influence by the other powers.

“The allegation that the judiciary is politicized and under the absolute sway of the executive is not true and is a political construct not supported by any practical evidence”, said Martinovic.

He added that the Ministry of Justice had, from 2012 to date, invested great efforts and funds to repair the material standing of judges and public prosecutors, renovate court buildings and prosecutors’ offices, and into the process of digitalization.

“Passing judiciary laws which harmonize our judiciary system with the modern European ones is yet another result of the work done by the National Assembly and Ministry of Justice”, concluded Martinovic.

Speaking of the constitutional reform of the judiciary, Martinovic said that the constitutional and political system of the Republic of Serbia are based on the separation of powers into the legislative, executive and judiciary, which all control one another through a system of checks and balances. He explained the role the National Assembly plays in the election process of bearers of judiciary and prosecutorial office and in the work of the State Prosecutorial Council and the High Judicial Council.

“The idea to impose as standard that Serbia completely exclude the National Assembly from the election process, which we know is not the case in EU member states, could jeopardize the balance of power between the three branches of government”, Martinovic added.

The Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional and Legislative Issues Djordje Komlenski briefed the representative of the Venice Commission on the duties of the National Assembly and the committee he heads in the process of constitutional amendment, stressing that changes in the Constitution relating to the judiciary would have to be confirmed by referendum. He opined that this responsible work would determine the future of judiciary and it cannot be subject to partial assessments or stances in the service of daily politics. He said that corrections to the judiciary system are necessary for the sake of modernization, but the complete separation of the judiciary from the other two branches of government would not be good at this moment.

James Hamilton, representative of the Venice Commission, wanted to know what changes to the Serbian constitution would involve procedurally speaking, as well as about the views of the relevant factors which would be involved in the process. He opined that Serbia is to undertake a serious job, adding that the relationship and interaction between the different branches of government is a particularly complex issue.

Hamilton reminded the attending that the Venice Commission welcomes the different legal traditions of the European countries and would not be giving any recommendations for uniform solutions, but that certain general tenets and principles should be accepted.

The meeting was also attended by Cedomir Backovic, Assistant Minister of Justice for European integration issues.



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friday, 29 march
  • 9.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Speaker’s Cabinet)

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