Venice Commission to Insist on Serbian Constitution Changes

The Venice Commission, an advisory body of the Council of Europe, will be involved in drafting recommended constitutional changes that it hopes will pave the way for judicial reform in Serbia in 2018. 

The council's press service told BIRN that its existing stance on Serbia's judiciary, first adopted a decade ago, will form the basis of future Venice Commission suggestions for amendments. Its initial recommendations have not yet been implemented. 

Serbia must amend its constitution to allow judicial reform. This change is a requirement of Serbia's accession to the EU.

When the constitution was adopted in 2006, both its content and the way it was passed into law were criticised by the public and legal experts. There was no public hearing before its adoption.

The press service of the Council of Europe recalled that the Venice Commission adopted an opinion on the Serbian Constitution in 2007.

"Since the Serbian Constitution is very difficult to amend, the recommendations resulting from the 2007 opinion have not yet been implemented," it said, adding that its "opinion is quite critical with respect to the provisions on the judiciary."

"This opinion will be the basis of future suggestions made by the Venice Commission," it added.  

In the document published in 2007, the council states that the new constitution had all the hallmarks of an over-hasty draft which at times did not meet its standards.

It criticised the lack of opportunity for its public discussion and said the procedure raised "questions of the legitimacy of the text with respect to the general public".

The document underlined the excessive role of parliament in judicial appointments and pointed out that judicial independence is a...