The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic greeted the participants of the First International Conference of Legislative Committees i.e. Committees on Legal Affairs, held at the National Assembly House at the initiative of the NARS Legislative Committee and the German Bundestag’s Committee on Legal Affairs.

On the occasion, the NARS Speaker declared the gathering of representatives of the parliamentary committees of European Union member states, states on the road toward full EU membership and the Committee on Judicial and Legal Affairs of the Russian Federation “very sensible, useful and beneficial”.

“The national parliaments pass laws regulating social life and it is the parliaments’ duty to develop and improve the country's constitutional and legal system and when regulating concrete social relations to take into account both the wide range of relations that exist in the society and the relations that are yet to be established” stressed that Speaker.

Djukic-Dejanovic informed the participants that in the period between May 2008 and the end of 2010, the current convocation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia had passed 575 laws and 150 other legal acts, which is illustrative of the body's efficiency and its commitment to back the society in reaching EU legislative standards.

Wishing them successful work, the NARS Speaker expressed her belief that the First International Conference of Legislative Committees i.e. Committees on Legal Affairs would become a traditional gathering of these committees which should help strengthen the parliaments’ reputation.

During the two-day conference the participants will discuss such subjects as the Role of the legislative committee in the overall constitutional and legal order i.e. system, Role of the legislative committee i.e. committee on legal affairs in the legislative procedure, Hierarchy of laws, Relation between parliamentary committees and the Constitutional Court and Use of legal knowledge in the legislative committee’s work.

The representatives of the State Duma’s Committee on Judicial and Legal Affairs expressed a wish to meet with the NARS Speaker who was happy to receive them. In the meeting they stated that meetings between parliamentary committees provide an excellent opportunity to share experiences and opinions in view of the differences in the legislative procedures of each country taking part in the Conference.