The attendees of the studies were welcomed into the National Assembly by the National Assembly Speaker, MA Nebojsa Stefanovic, who said that they are the people Serbia's defence can count on. He hoped that they would find the visit to the National Assembly useful and that, in the course of their studies, they would reach the level of quality the state asks of them. The National Assembly, as the supreme legislative body, via the security services control and defence and internal affairs committees, monitors the work of the ministries of interior and defence, and of other institutions functioning within the defence system. By providing excellent legislation, the National Assembly will provide the framework for the further operation of defence and security system institutions, stressed Speaker Stefanovic inviting the attendees of the High Security and Defence Studies to contribute their suggestions primarily as regards improving the position of soldiers.
Colonel Slobodan Joksimovic, Head of the High Security and Defence Studies, presented the 2nd class of attendees, 15 all in all, among them representatives of the Ministry of Defence and armed forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Slovenia and Republic of Croatia, as well as a representative of the National Assembly Service. He stressed that the study programme is comprehensive and comprises, among other things, learning about the legislative framework of the security system, which makes the visit to the National Assembly more than useful.
The Chairperson of the Security Services Control Committee, Jadranka Joksimovic, briefed the guests on the Committee’s work and scope. She reaffirmed the importance of democratic and civil control over the work of security services, which is basically the essence of parliamentary control. The National Assembly’s current legislation has two committees on the task, the Security Services Control Committee and Defence and Internal Affairs Committee, thus creating the institutional framework for the improvement of parliamentary control which will in turn change the European Commission’s currently negative assessment as regards the control and supervision in the sphere of security, concluded Joksimovic. In the continuation of the presentation she briefed the High Study attendees on how sittings closed to the public are held, about the Committee’s scope as regards direct supervision, cooperation with intelligence agencies, as well as independent state bodies such as the SAI, Ombudsman and Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection.
Committee member Meho Omerovic presented the legislation regulating the work of the Security Services Control Committee, stressing that civil control of security services is the most important link in the chain of democratic control of authorities, as well as parliamentary control. Speaking of the provisions of the Constitution, Law on the National Assembly, National Assembly Rules of Procedure, Law on the Basic Principles of Organisation of Security Services, Law on Defence, Law on Security Information Agency, Law on Military Intelligence Agency and Military Security Agency and other laws regulating the control and supervision of the work of security agencies, Omerovic reminded that the essence of the Committee’s job is legality and neutrality. He restated that the National Assembly had constructed the legislative framework in accordance with standards and that it would, in the upcoming period, work on following the implementation of the adopted laws and eliminating the problems which might stem from some of the legislation.
The attendees of the High Security and Defence Studies were also presented the scope of the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee after which they were taken on a tour of the National Assembly House to learn about its cultural and historic heritage.