The Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Predrag Markovic, convened the Second Session of the First Regular Sitting in 2004 for 10 a.m. on Tuesday 16 March.

At the beginning of the session, the deputies observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect for those killed in the terrorist attacks in the Spanish capital, Madrid.

The National Assembly was informed that the Democratic Party of Serbia Deputies’ Group had elected deputy Branislav Ristivojevic chairman of the group, while deputy Dusan Prorokovic had been elected vice-chairman.

The National Assembly noted that the mandate of the following deputies had been terminated before the expiry of the term they had been elected to: Dejan Mihajlov, Vojislav Kostunica, Zora Simovic, Dragan Marsicanin, Gordana Matijasevic, Milan Radulovic and Nebojsa Bakarec, elected from the Democratic Party of Serbia - Vojislav Kostunica electoral list; Aleksandar Cotric, Velimir Ilic, Bojan Dimitrijevic and Vlajko Senic, elected from the Serbian Renewal Movement - New Serbia - Vuk Draskovic - Velimir Ilic electoral list, as well as Vladimir Ilic, Vesna Piperski-Tucakov and Nevena Karanovic, elected from the G17 Plus - Miroljub Labus electoral list.

The National Assembly also noted that the mandate of deputies to the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro, Ljiljana Colic, Dragan Jocic and Aleksandar Popovic, had ended on the day of their resignation.

The National Assembly then went on to confirm, on the basis of the report of the Republic Electoral Commission and the Administrative Committee, the mandates of deputies Svetlana Stojanovic, Helijana Dragojevic, Ljubisa Djokovic, Slavoljub Matic, Zeljko Tomic, Djordje Cukvas and Milan Dimitrijevic, elected from the Democratic Party of Serbia - Vojislav Kostunica electoral list, Bogoljub Pejcic, Stanisa Stevanovic, Tomislav Kitanovic and Dusan Mrvos, elected from the Serbian Renewal Movement - New Serbia - Vuk Draskovic - Velimir Ilic electoral list, as well as Ivana Kovacevic, Milka Silajev and Miroljub Maric, elected from the G17 Plus - Miroljub Labus electoral list.

The National Assembly adopted the following agenda:

1. Bill Modifying the Act on the Ordering of Courts, submitted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia;

2. Bill Modifying the Act on Judges, submitted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia;

3. Bill Amending the Act on the Organisation and Competencies of Government Bodies in Suppressing Organised Crime, submitted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia;

4. Proposals of decisions modifying the Decision on the Election of Members of Committees of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, submitted by Serbian Radical Party, Democratic Party - Boris Tadic, G17 Plus, Serbian Renewal Movement - New Serbia and Democratic Party of Serbia Deputies’ Groups;

5. Proposal of the decision modifying the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, submitted by the Administrative Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia;

6. Bill Amending and Modifying the Act on Court Fees, submitted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia; and

7. Proposal of the decision on the election of one member of the Council of the National Bank of Serbia, submitted by the Finance Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

On the first day of the sitting, the National Assembly held a joint debate in principle on the Bills Modifying the Act on the Ordering of Courts, the Act on Judges and the Act on the Organisation and Competencies of State Bodies in Suppressing Organised Crime, and discussed the particulars of all three Bills.

The National Assembly concluded joint debate on the proposals of decisions modifying the Decision on the Election of Members of Committees of the National Assembly and began joint discussion of the Proposal of the decision modifying the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

On the second day of the sitting (17 March), the National Assembly ended joint discussion on the Proposal of the decision modifying the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, discussed the particulars of the Bill Amending and Modifying the Act on Court Fees and the Proposal of the decision on the election of one member of the Council of the National Bank of the Republic of Serbia.

On Voting Day, set by Chairman Markovic immediately on the conclusion of discussion on all items from the agenda, the National Assembly adopted, in their entirety, the Bill Modifying the Act on the Ordering of Courts, the Bill Modifying the Act on Judges, the Bill Modifying the Act on the Organisation and Competencies of State Bodies in Suppressing Organised Crime and the Bill Amending and Modifying the Act on Court Fees.

The National Assembly adopted, in their entirety, the Proposal of the decision modifying the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, the Proposal of the decision on the election of one member of the Council of the National Bank of Serbia and proposals of decisions modifying the Decision on the Election of Members of Committees of the National Assembly, which concluded the Second Session of the First Regular Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in 2004.