The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, convened the First Sitting of the First Regular Session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in 2009 for Thursday, 5 March 2009, beginning at 10 a.m.

The National Assembly adopted the following agenda:

1. The Bill on International Legal Aid in Criminal Matters,

2. The Bill on Prevention of Money-Laundering and Financing of Terrorism,

3. The Bill on the Confirmation of the Convention on Cybercrime,

4. The Bill on the Confirmation of the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and Financing of Terrorism,

5. The Bill on the Confirmation of the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems,

6. The Bill on the Confirmation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings,

7. The Bill on the Confirmation of the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism,

8. The Bill on the Confirmation of the Protocol amending the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism,

9. The Bill on the Confirmation of the Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and the Kingdom of Denmark on alleviated visa issuance procedure,

10. The Bill on Registry Books,

11. The Bill amending and modifying the Expropriation Law,

12. The Bill amending and modifying the Law on Tax Procedure and Tax Administration,

13. The Proposal of the Decision on the election of members of the Health Council of Serbia,

14. The Proposals of the Decisions on the dismissal and election of members of the Council of the State Audit Institution:

- Proposal of the Decision on the dismissal of a member of the Council of the State Audit Institution,

- Proposal of the Decision on the election of a member of the Council of the State Audit Institution,

15. The Proposal of the Decision on dismissal from judicial office,

16. The Proposal of the Decision on termination of judicial office,

17. The Candidate List for the election of members of the Anti-Corruption Agency Committee,

18. The Proposal of the Decision of the dismissal of academician Mihailo Djuric from National Education Council membership,

19. The Proposal of the Decision on the dismissal of Prof. Dr Aleksandar Lipovski from National Education Council membership,

20. The Collective candidate list for the election of National Education Council members,

21. The Proposal of the Decision on the dismissal of Dr Aleksandar Jovanovic from National Education Council membership.

The National Assembly adopted the proposal to conduct a joint discussion in principle on the first ten items on the agenda. The National Assembly also accepted the proposal to conduct a joint unified discussion on items 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 on the agenda.

The National Assembly Speaker informed the deputies that the sitting is attended by the students of the Law Faculty of the University in Pristina.

The deputies began work by the joint discussion in principle on the bills on International Legal Aid in Criminal Matters, on Prevention of Money-Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and on the Bill on Registry Books.

On the behalf of the submitters, the deputies were addressed by the Minister of Justice, Snezana Malovic.

Elaborating the Bill on International Legal Aid in Criminal Matters, Minister Malovic stressed that it represents one of the conditions for Serbia’s accession to the European Union and abolition of visas for Serbian citizens travelling to EU countries. The Bill will wholly regulate the process of providing international legal aid in criminal proceedings.

Elaborating the Bill on Registry Books, the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Milan Markovic stated that this Bill enables the establishment of a national birth and death register which is the basis for the creation of a citizens’ register in line with the current European standards, which Serbia does not as yet have.

Minister of Justice Snezana Malovic also presented the Bill on Prevention of Money-Laundering and Financing of Terrorism which should improve the current system of detection and prevention of money-laundering and financing of terrorism. The Bill establishes a framework for the prevention and detection of financing of terrorism, which will undeniably benefit state security in the comprehensive fight against terrorism, the Minister stressed.

By the end of the day, the National Assembly had concluded the joint discussion in principle on: the Bill on International Legal Aid in Criminal Matters; the Bill on Prevention of Money-Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and on the Bill on Registry Books.

In the morning of the second day, the National Assembly completed the joint unified discussion on the Bill on the Confirmation of the Convention on Cybercrime, the Bill on the Confirmation of the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and Financing of Terrorism, the Bill on the Confirmation of the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems, the Bill on the Confirmation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, the Bill on the Confirmation of the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, the Bill on the Confirmation of the Protocol amending the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism and the Bill on the Confirmation of the Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and the Kingdom of Denmark on alleviated visa issuance procedure.

Presenting the bills, Minister of Justice Snezana Malovic emphasized their importance in the process of Serbia’s accession to the European Union, harmonization of domestic with European legislation and abolition of visas for Serbian citizens travelling abroad.

She stressed that the adoption of these bills will create the conditions necessary for Serbia’s placement onto the white Schengen list, and the creation of a normative ambience conducive to a more successful suppression of all forms of crime.

In the discussion, the deputies from opposition deputy groups pointed out that these conventions should have appeared on the National Assembly’s agenda much sooner, particularly those concerning the fight against terrorism and trafficking in human beings. It was also said that it is not only important to adopt this set of bills, but also to implement them in practice.

The National Assembly went on to commence a discussion in principle on the Bill amending and modifying the Expropriation Law, elaborated by Minister of Finance Diana Dragutinovic. She stated that the current Law, passed in 2005, needs to be adjusted to the Serbian Constitution. The main reasons for the amendments, however, lie in the expansion of the list of subjects-beneficiaries of expropriation, as well as the amendments to the provisions on the possibility for the establishment of public interest and regulation of reimbursement.

By the end of the day the National Assembly had completed the discussion in principle on the Bill.

On the third day, the deputies completed a debate in principle on the Bill amending and modifying the Law on Tax Procedure and Tax Administration.

On the behalf of the submitters, the deputies were addressed by Minister of Finance Dr Diana Dragutinovic. Elaborating the Bill amending and modifying the Law on Tax Procedure and Tax Administration, Minister Dragutinovic stated that the proposed set of regulations is attempting to turn the tax administration into u business service, i.e. a client-oriented administration. To achieve this, some of the regulations had to be changed, security of the tax payers increased and tax administration’s capacities strengthened, the Minister of Finance pointed out.

The Chairperson, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gordana Comic reprimanded the following deputies for the violation of articles 103 and 104 of the Rules of Procedure, i.e. interrupting the speaker and failure to respect the dignity of the National Assembly: Milan Veselinovic, Dragan Zivkov, Milan Skrbic, Jadranka Vukovic, Radisa Ilic, Slobodan Vukovic, Vladan Jeremic, Milan Avramovic, Dobroslav Prelic, Bojan Mladenovic, Sreta Peric, Sulejman Spaho, Miodrag Krstin, Vlada Milojkovic, Dusan Maric, Zoran Popovic, Dusanka Plecevic, Radica Jocic, Gordana Paunovic-Milosavljevic, Dragan Stevanovic, Lidija Dimitrijevic, Ljubisa Petkovic, Momir Markovic and Dragan Todorovic who was denied the floor for the duration of the sitting as he had already been reprimanded twice. Deputies Milan Skrbic and Sulejman Spaho were reprimanded a second time.

In the afternoon, the National Assembly completed a joint unified discussion on the Proposal of the Decision on the election of members of the Health Council of Serbia, the Proposals of the Decisions on the dismissal and election of members of the Council of the State Audit Institution, the Proposal of the Decision on dismissal from judicial office, the Proposal of the Decision on termination of judicial office and the Candidate List for the election of members of the Anti-Corruption Agency Committee.

The National Assembly Speaker, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic reprimanded deputies Marko Milenkovic and Milorad Krstin.

On the fourth day of work, 11 March, the National Assembly continued the debate on the remaining items on the agenda of the session.

In the morning part of the proceedings, the National Assembly completed a joint unified discussion on: the Proposal of the Decision of the dismissal of academician Mihailo Djuric from National Education Council membership, the Proposal of the Decision on the dismissal of Prof. Dr Aleksandar Lipovski from National Education Council membership, the Collective candidate list for the election of National Education Council members and the Proposal of the Decision on the dismissal of Dr Aleksandar Jovanovic from National Education Council membership. In the discussion, the importance of the National Education Council’s role in the education system was emphasised along with its duty to create a national strategy of development of education and upbringing.

The National Assembly went on to conduct a discussion in detail on the Bill on International Legal Aid in Criminal Matters.

On the fifth day of work, 12 March, the National Assembly completed the discussion on the particulars of the Bill on International Legal Aid in Criminal Matters, the Bill on Prevention of Money-Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and the Bill on Registry Books.

The National Assembly went on to conduct a discussion on the particulars of the Bill amending and modifying the Expropriation Law.

On the sixth day of work, 13 March, the deputies completed the discussion on the particulars of the Bill amending and modifying the Expropriation Law and the Bill amending and modifying the Law on Tax Procedure and Tax Administration.

Since the National Assembly had completed the discussion on all the items on the agenda, the Chairperson, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gordana Comic, set Wednesday, 18 March, as Voting Day on the items on the agenda of the First Sitting of the First Regular Session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in 2009.

Voting Day

On Voting Day, set by the National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gordana Comic for 18 March, starting at 10 a.m., the National Assembly adopted the bills on International Legal Aid in Criminal Matters and on Prevention of Money-Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, then the bills on the Confirmation of the Convention on Cybercrime and the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and Financing of Terrorism, as well as the Bill on the Confirmation of the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems in their entirety.

The National Assembly went on to adopt the bills on the Confirmation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and on the Prevention of Terrorism, the Protocol amending the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism and the Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and the Kingdom of Denmark on alleviated visa issuance procedure in their entirety.

The National Assembly adopted the bills on Registry Books, amending and modifying the Expropriation Law, amending and modifying the Law on Tax Procedure and Tax Administration, as well as the Proposals of the Decisions on the election of members of the Health Council of Serbia, on the dismissal and election of a member of the Council of the State Audit Institution and on dismissal from and termination of judicial office in their entirety.

The National Assembly, also, elected Dr Zoran Stoiljkovic, Sonja Liht, Dr Tanja Miscevic, Mileva Gajinov, Dr Evica Petrovic, Dr Branko Lubarda, Dr Cedomir Cupic, Dr Slobodan Beljanski and Zlatko Minic as members of the Anti-Corruption Agency Committee. The Assembly adopted the Proposals of the Decisions of the dismissal of academicians Mihailo Djuric and Prof. Dr Aleksandar Lipovski from National Education Council membership, Dr Aleksandar Jovanovic from the office of National Education Council President and elected National Education Council members from the Collective candidate list.

Since the National Assembly had completed the discussion on all the items on the agenda and ruled on them, the Speaker of the National Assembly concluded the First Sitting of the First Regular Session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in 2009.