The National Assembly hosted a public hearing on the changes to the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia in the field of the judiciary, organised by the Committee on Constitutional and Legislative Issues.
The Chairperson of the Committee on Constitutional and Legislative Issues Jelena Zaric Kovacevic emphasized the importance of the constitutional changes that need to made, as well as the important role the National Assembly and this Committee play in that process. She thanked National Assembly Speaker Ivica Dacic, Minister of Justice Maja Popovic, President and judges of the Constitutional Court, representatives of the judiciary, professional associations, independent state bodies, international organizations and ambassadors of EU member states, the US and Canada.
In his introductory speech, National Assembly Speaker Ivica Dacic said he believed this would start a public debate, which is expected to provide useful suggestions and opinions of the widest circle of interested parties. "Our goal with these public debates, which we are starting today and there will be more, is to achieve the greatest possible agreement on future constitutional changes in order to ensure that these changes are efficient, fair, as well as long-standing”, said Dacic, reminding the attending that the task here is to change those provisions of the Constitution that concern the judiciary, that is, the manner of electing judicial functions, and that no other changes would be discussed.
The National Assembly Speaker also pointed out that the whole process of constitutional amendment is very complex, stipulating, very precisely, several stages, and that the role of the National Assembly is extremely important in the current stage.
Minister of Justice Maja Popovic also addressed the assembly, as the authorised representative of the proposer, who briefly explained the reasons for the change of the Constitution in the field of justice. The proposed changes to the Constitution are envisaged as an activity in the Negotiation Chapter 23 Action Plan adopted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia on 27 April 2016 and revised on 10 July 2020, and they are the most significant reform concerning the rule of law, a core value of any democratic society and one of the priorities of the European Union, the Minister pointed out.
The Republic of Serbia was to analyse the existing provisions of the Constitution from the standpoint of general acceptance of European and international standards, expressed through documents of the European Union, United Nations, Council of Europe, especially the Venice Commission, as well as the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), Consultative Council of European Judges, Consultative Council of European Prosecutors and the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary, stated Popovic.
After the analysis, it was determined that the provisions of the Constitution in the field of judiciary need to be changed in order to implement a better system for proposing, electing, transferring and terminating the judicial office of judges, court presidents, public prosecutors and deputy public prosecutors. This would allow the entry into the judiciary to be based on objective evaluation criteria, fair selection procedures, openness to all appropriately qualified candidates and transparency to the general public. In order to achieve these positive effects, the High Judicial Council and State Prosecutorial Council need to be strengthened and take leading roles in the management of the judiciary, as well as greater responsibility for the decisions they make, the Minister explained.
Following a discussion, where the participants shared opinions, attitudes and constructive proposals, the Chairperson of the Committee on Constitutional and Legislative Issues concluded the public hearing, saying that the practice of holding public hearings and consulting with the widest range of interested parties would be continued.
