Milan Antonijevic and Marko Milenkovic, lecturers of the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights, Nuala Quinn, lawyer from Northern Ireland and Zorica Mrsevic, professor of the Faculty of European Legal and Political Studies in Novi Sad spoke about human rights and the rule of law in the legislative process.

Milan Antonijevic said that the seminar aims to strengthen the ties between the Parliament and civil sector and improve the work of the Assembly’s Service which can primarily be achieved by abiding by the human rights guaranteed under the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia.

Zorica Mrsevic spoke of the relation between international human rights standards and the standards achieved in the sphere of human rights in Serbia, as well as the strength of prejudice, relationship between the majority and minorities and discrimination of minority groups. She went on to analyse the legal solutions relating to the freedom of assembly, also mentioning the protection of the rights of the LGBT population.

Irish guest Nuala Quinn reminded the assembly of the importance of respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, particularly respecting the European Union and Council of Europe human rights standards and the rule of law in European Union membership candidate countries. The participants of the seminar also spoke of Serbia’s constitutional and legal framework for the protection of human and minority rights, the acknowledged progress in the sphere, potentials for further development and outstanding issues.

In the second part of the seminar, the participants analysed the international instruments for the protection of human rights and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, discussing the right of assembly, problems social groups encounter when attempting to organise public events, as well as the potential solutions and recommendations of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission for the improvement of the legislation governing the sphere.