European Court dismisses Serbian pensioners’ lawsuit against Serbia

The court reasoned that the reduction in pension payments had been imposed by law, had not run counter to the Constitution or international treaties ratified by Serbia, had been justified by the public’s interest in ensuring the financial stability of the pension system and could be considered to be proportionate, bearing in mind a number of factors including social solidarity, the short duration of the measures and the fact that the applicants had not been made to bear an excessive burden.

Moreover, in view of the documents submitted, the Court said it had no reason to doubt that the measures had been in the public interest – to ensure the financial stability of the pension system.

The reduction followed legislative amendments introduced by the Government as part of a wider set of austerity measures and the legislation was repealed once it was considered that public debt had been sufficiently reduced, said the European Court of Human Rights.