Serbia to adjust legal reform to Venice Commission's remarks

The Council of Europe’s Commission called on Serbia in June to seek a different solution for the election of the High Judicial Council’s (VSS) members.

One of the stressed remarks was that an amendment to the Constitution envisaging that the VSS’ members who do not come from the judicial system (five out of eleven) are elected in the parliament opens a possibility for half of them to be loyal to the current authorities.

Both Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic and Justice Minister Nela Kuburovic have repeatedly said that the new draft will honour all Commission's suggestions.

Kuburovic on Thursday said that the draft would be before the parliament in autumn, adding that the procedure for constitutional changes was complicated.

“The parliament first has to vote in favour of the constitutional changes procedure which for a two-thirds majority (out of 250 MPs) is needed and only if the parliament passes that, we can talk about future amendments,” Kuburovic said.

She added that the Ministry hoped to send the text of suggested changes to the MPs by the end of the year. If the parliament adopts the draft, it goes to a referendum.

“The constitution is just a base for new laws,” Kuburovic said, adding some novelties were ahead since “a large set of laws regarding the judiciary should be changed and adjusted.”