Opening the roundtable, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Prof. Dr Vladimir Marinkovic said that it is very important for the students of the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Political Sciences to know the legislative procedure so as to better understand the political system. The quality and dynamics of the reform process greatly depend on the laws passed by the National Assembly, especially in view of Serbia’s European integration and the need to harmonise the national legislation with the European and global standards, said the National Assembly Deputy Speaker. Marinkovic said that the National Assembly is focused on passing the laws necessary to create the best economic environment for investment, stimulation of the economy and employment in Serbia. Before a law is passed it should undergo wide public debate, stressed Marinkovic, adding that the efficient implementation of the adopted legislation is just as important as its quality.
In the course of the seminar the students were presented the legislative procedure in detail, from the submitters established by the Constitution, assembly procedure and deliberation at the relevant committees’ sittings and the National Assembly session, to the vote at the National Assembly and subsequent signing of promulgation ordinance by the President of the Republic.
Secretary of the Committee on Economy and Finance of the Government of the Republic of Serbia Dragica Perisic presented the legislative drafting procedure, deliberation on the draft laws, acceptance at a Government session and forwarding into Assembly procedure in the form of a bill. National Assembly Deputy Secretary General Branko Marinkovic spoke about the procedure of deliberation on the bill at the National Assembly, while MP Olgica Batic explained how the MPs can improve the quality of the bill by submitting amendments. They also presented the procedure and debate on the bill conducted at the committee sittings and the National Assembly session.
The students asked to what degree do the constitutionally designated submitters – Government, MPs and 30,000 citizens, use their right to propose laws. They also had questions about the communication between the citizens and their representatives at the Parliament and the referendum procedure.