Information Documents

SG/Inf (2008) 3 final                                                                                   7 February 2008

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Serbia:

Compliance with obligations and commitments and implementation of the post-accession co-operation programme

3^rd Report (July 2007 – January 2008)

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Document presented by the Secretary General

CONTENTS

Pages

I.       Introduction............................................................................................................... 3

II.     General Political Context…..................................................................................... 3

III.    Recent Developments................................................................................................ 4

         Democracy.................................................................................................................. 5

         Rule of Law................................................................................................................ 6

         Human Rights............................................................................................................. 8

IV.    Developments Related to Specific Accession Commitments................................ 11

         Conventions.............................................................................................................. 11

         Institutional reforms................................................................................................. 11

         Human Rights........................................................................................................... 12

         Domestic Legislation................................................................................................ 12

V.     Conclusions, Recommendations............................................................................ 13

VI.    Decisions.................................................................................................................. 14

         Appendix I............................................................................................................... 16

I.                   Introduction

This document is the third Secretariat report on compliance with obligations and commitments and implementation of the post-accession co-operation programme with respect to Serbia[1].  The Directorate General of Democracy and Political Affairs carried out a Secretariat visit to Serbia, Belgrade, from 2 December until 6 December 2007.  The programme of the visit can be found in the Appendix to this document. 

The Secretariat wishes to once again underline the very high level of co-operation and support which it has received from the Serbian authorities and to thank in particular those members of the government and of parliament who met with the delegation for their availability during such a busy time.  The Permanent Representation of the Republic of Serbia to the Council of Europe provided very important input and assistance to the preparation of the Secretariat mission and to the report, as did the Council of Europe’s Office in Belgrade.

The European Commission released, on 6 November, its own comprehensive review of progress made by Serbia towards its European Partnership goals, much of which relates to the political criteria directly inspired by Council of Europe standards[2]. 

The present report will not attempt to provide a comprehensive review of the reporting period, but rather intends to focus on a more limited scope of issues and events.   The first focus is on developments concerning a few issues which were the main subject of discussions during the Secretariat visit (Part III:  Recent Developments).  The second focus is on developments in relation to compliance with specific accession commitments (Part IV:  Developments Related to Specific Accession Commitments).

II.        General Political Context

The period under review corresponds, approximately, to the first seven months in office of the new government of Serbia.   This new coalition government was widely hailed as the best possible outcome after the long period of negotiations following the January 2007 elections.  This period has been a highly politically charged one, with virtually every important decision of government or parliament being the object of intense political negotiations.  Even decisions clearly outlined and required by the new Constitution or its implementing law were only painfully acquired, often at the last legal minute.  During the first half of December the laws necessary to calling the Presidential elections were adopted, and the laws necessary for calling the local and provincial elections were adopted on 29 December.  Thus, the calling of the presidential, as well as local and provincial elections, was made possible before the deadline of 31 December 2007 and the requirements of the law on implementation of the constitution were fulfilled.

The process of determining the future status of Kosovo has been a central theme of the Serbian political arena and the main priority of the new government under the coalition agreement which allowed the formation of the government. Following the consideration by the UN Security Council of the report of « Troika » process on 19 December and the EU Council decisions of 14 December, the Serbian Parliament adopted a resolution on 26 December « On the protection of sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order of the Republic of Serbia ».  The launch of the presidential election campaign (first round 20 January and second round 3 February) coincides with a period of uncertainty about Kosovo’s status and the role of the international community.

Serbia continues to advance along the road to increased European integration, even if the Parliamentary Resolution of 26 December could raise some doubts about Serbia’s future relations with the European Union and NATO[3].  The Serbian Vice Prime Minister has announced his expectation for the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, which was initialled on 7 November, to be signed in January 2008. Additionally, the Office of the Vice-Prime Minister and the Office for European Integration have developed a very ambitious plan for achieving the status of a European Union candidate State by the end of 2008.  The political situation remains unclear and the conditionality of full co-operation with the Hague Tribunal remains, formally at least, an obstacle.  The former ICTY Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, before leaving office in December 2007, assessed that there was still “no full co-operation with my Office”[4].  In her view the political will to effectively track down, arrest and transfer the remaining indictees, notably Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, is still not forthcoming. 

III.      Recent Developments

The period under review was rather rich in events, notably in relation to the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, and in developments related to Council of Europe membership.  This section will focus on developments or issues which have been discussed during the mission and which are of particular significance to Serbia’s Council of Europe membership. One of the most significant developments was indeed the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers by Serbia, which has been acknowledged by all of the Council of Europe’s partners and members as a very successful and effective chairmanship[5].  The six months of Serbia’s mandate saw a number of important achievements for the Council of Europe, for example the adoption of 10 October as the European day against the death penalty, and a very full agenda of activities and high-level events which attracted a large participation from member states as well as from different sectors of Serbian society.

A.        Democracy

It is to the credit of the Parliament and its leadership that it did manage to adopt a large set of laws within the constitutionally mandated time in order to call the presidential and, eventually, the provincial and municipal, elections also in time.  However the institution of the parliament in Serbia is undergoing a difficult time with its credibility in society being undermined and the public’s trust in this institution declining.  This is due to a number of factors, including daily transmission of sometimes rude or threatening debates on television, lengthy debates on frivolous amendments ending in laws being adopted in urgency, consistent difficulty in fulfilling legally mandated deadlines for appointments or decisions and what seems to be a weak capacity of parliament to exercise its function of democratic control over the government.  Urgent changes are needed to the Parliament’s rules of procedure and the Constitution requires the adoption of a law on the National Assembly.  The Council of Europe has provided, in July 2007, an evaluation of the current Rules of Procedure and indications of means for their improvement.  According to the President of the Parliament this will be a priority for the Parliament in 2008.  A more long-term issue, which has been highlighted by the Venice Commission in its opinion on the Serbian Constitution[6], is that of the distribution and status of the mandates of the members of Parliament which has led to a strong control by the governing coalition over the work of the Parliament.

 

At the level of local government, effective decentralisation is progressing, if slowly.  At the end of December a package of important laws were passed quickly in order to meet the constitutional deadline and allow for the calling of provincial and municipal elections. These laws were submitted to the Council of Europe for expertise, but only very shortly before they were adopted on 29 December.  The expert comments from the Council of Europe should be delivered to the Minister in early spring 2008. The European Charter for Local Self-Government has entered into force in Serbia on 1 January 2008.  The Secretariat delegation was informed of continuing dissatisfaction of Vojvodina politicians in relation to the level of autonomy which that province enjoys under the new Constitution.  In addition it was pointed out that although the Constitution prescribes that 7% of the State budget will be allocated to the Provincial Administration, in fact only 3-4% of budget has been released.

Several independent or oversight bodies are functioning successfully, most recently the Office of the Ombudsman (or Protector of Citizens), Mr Sasa Jankovic, who was sworn in on 23 July 2007. The Ombudsman has been setting up his office, premises, budget and staff, outlining his priorities and planning for his first report to Parliament at the end of March 2008.  He has already started responding to citizens’ complaints and is rather satisfied with the co-operation he received from the public authorities, however the 4 Deputy Ombudsmen have not yet been appointed.  The State Audit Institution was sworn in on 27 September 2007, allowing this institution to commence functioning.  The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance has also been playing an increasingly important role, his pressure, for example, was instrumental in convincing the government to publish the controversial Concession Contract for Horgos-Pozega Highway Route.  More needs to be done to improve the effective independence and the public’s confidence in the independence of these bodies.  During the Secretariat mission in Serbia, the Government Secretariat for Legislation proposed that the new draft law on public procurement be modified so as to incorporate the currently independent Public Procurement Office into the Ministry of Finance.  Fortunately, this change, which would have been much to the detriment of transparency in public procurement, was subsequently rejected by the Ministry of Finance. 

Organised civil society is an active and important part of the democratic process in Serbia, contributing to drafting legislation, implementing social policies, improving human rights protection, promoting justice and reconciliation.  The Serbian authorities are to be commended for their strong involvement of NGOs and civil society into the planning and realisation of the successful Serbian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers in 2007.  At the same time, many representatives of non-governmental organisation expressed concern over an increasing atmosphere of fear and insecurity, especially for those working in sensitive subjects such as reconciliation, justice for victims of war crimes, promotion of the human rights of gay and lesbian people or simply engaging in open political discussion over Kosovo or Serbia’s European future.  A disturbing illustration of this took place during the Secretariat mission when several hundred people, apparently supporters of the NS and SRS political parties forced their way into the studio and forced the cancellation of a B92 radio debate programme (Pescanik or « hourglass ») in Arandjelovac. The people producing the radio programme had to be protected by the police and escorted away from the town.  The Secretariat delegation was informed that the police exercised their role and authority in an admirable way, thus protecting the victims from what they feared to be a real physical threat to themselves.  This incident was extremely unfortunate not only because the public authorities failed to protect the right of free expression of the people preparing the Pescanik programme, but also because the condemnation of this incident by the political leaders of the country was only partial.

B.        Rule of Law

The reform of the justice system, in particular of the judiciary, has been on the agenda for a long time, many justice professionals in Serbia say it has already been dragging on too long.  It was clear to the Secretariat delegation that the judiciary in Serbia is facing a serious crisis:  a widespread perception of corruption in the judiciary has deteriorated the public’s trust in judges and in the justice system, excessive delays and enormous backlog in courts have lead to general dissatisfaction of citizens and of court staff, as well as to an increasing number of verdicts against Serbia at the European Court of Human Rights.  In this respect, the Council of Europe will continue to provide assistance to the Serbian judiciary to fully implement the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the Court at national level.  There is consensus in the country that a serious reform of the whole sector is needed, the major disagreements focus on how to do it, and perhaps also on who should do it.  In this case the Secretariat delegation noted that the judges themselves, and the Association of Judges, have shown willingness to be part of the reforms through their participation in implementing the existing National Judicial Reform Strategy.

The new Minister of Justice has undertaken a comprehensive assessment of the justice system on the basis of which he has announced a whole series of new laws which in the pipeline for 2008.  These will include a new Criminal Procedural Code and a package of judicial and prosecutorial laws including law on High Judicial and on High Prosecutorial Councils, law on judges, law on prosecutors, etc.  The Council of Europe and the European Commission had already established a Joint Programme to provide relevant expertise for all draft laws related to the National Judicial Reform Strategy in 2007 and had already commented on two draft prosecutorial laws.  The programme has now, however, been put on hold until the new package of laws are prepared and are submitted for this purpose.  At the same time the Minister has indicated its intention to carry out two parallel processes in order to reducing the overall number of judges to more standard European levels and to re-elect all sitting judges.  These procedures should be the object of consultations and also public clarification about the methods and criteria to be used for re-election, the body which will be responsible for carrying out the re-election process and its manner of appointment and functioning. 

The Constitutional Court, long in the de-facto incapacity to function, is now functioning.  The law on the Constitutional Court was adopted on 23 November 2007 following the adoption of an opinion on the draft by the Venice Commission.  Ten of the fifteen judges have been appointed and sworn in and the President of the Court has been elected.  The Constitutional Court should now take on the important role accorded to it in the new Constitution of providing the last domestic review instance for human rights applications.  Another development during the reporting period was the entry into force of both the European Convention on the International Validity of Criminal Judgements and the Second Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters on 27 July and 1 August respectively. 

The fight against corruption is a priority for the Serbian government and for the citizens.  The Serbian authorities have submitted in December the compliance report to the Council of Europe’s Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO).  The Civil Law Convention on Corruption and the Additional Protocol to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption were ratified in November 2007.  Serbia’s standing in the Transparency International index improved during this period and a number of high media profile arrests and debates took place concerning corruption in public affairs.  One of the main complaints of the independent Anti-Corruption Council is that the legislation covering this area is incomplete and notably has left a gap in relation to the financing of political parties.  There are very little means for the independent control bodies to evaluate the level of public funds being used to finance political parties.     

The prosecution of war crimes in Serbia continued rather successfully in the reporting period, with the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor and the Special Chamber for War Crimes in Belgrade District Court receiving praise from ICTY, for their work.  Nevertheless, the overall perception is that at the end of the process verdicts are overturned or the sentences are less than the prosecution requested.  There are still concerns about pressure being exercised on the Office of the Prosecutor and on lawyers, NGOs working with victims and questions about the Supreme Court’s treatment of appeals.  The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on “Prosecution of offences falling within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)[7] calling on Serbia (and other relevant countries) to lift its ban on extradition of its nationals charged with committing war crimes.  The Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor felt that this was not essential to successful prosecution of war crimes, in particular if the countries concerned could improve their co-operation, much as Serbia and Croatia have done on a bilateral level.  A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed in October 2007 between the Serbian Special Prosecutors and the Supreme State Prosecutor of Montenegro.

C.        Human Rights

The Government Agency for Human and Minority Rights now plays the main institutional co-ordination role at national level for protecting and promoting human rights, but it does not have the institutional or political weight to replace the role played by the former State Union Ministry for Human and Minority Rights.  The former State Union Minister of Human and Minority Rights, Mr Rasim Ljajic who is now Minister of Labour and Social Policy, actually continues to play an important role in the human rights sector.  His ministry has prepared a draft law on non-discrimination, for which an expertise has been adopted by the Venice Commission in December, the Serbian version of the expertise was delivered in late December for further discussion and debate under the auspices of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.  The Secretariat delegation was also able to witness during its visit the very vigorous and prompt reaction of this Ministry to negative reports concerning the conditions in which mentally disabled persons, including children, were being held in Serbia.  The Ministry enacted quickly some decisions to improve some of the worst situations in the short term and provide a basis for medium term amelioration of the sector overall.  Additionally, a Children’s Rights Council was formed on 5 September 2007 to promote children’s rights and has prepared a draft law on the Ombudsperson for Children which has been put into parliamentary procedure in December 2007.

The Agency for Human and Minority Rights has submitted the first State Report for Serbia under the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages in July 2007.  Serbia’s State Report under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities however, which was due in September 2007, has not yet been received by the Council of Europe Secretariat.  It is also worth noting that Serbia has nominated, in October 2007, a member and deputy member of the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance.

The signature, in September 2007, of the Visa Facilitation and Re-admission Agreement with the European Union and its entry into force on 1 January 2008 will have significant consequences for the structures in Serbia dealing with returnees and re-integration.  In November 2007, the government established a Council for the Integration of Returnees.  Although a national strategy for re-admissions has not yet been adopted, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy has established a working group for this purpose.  The Agency of Human and Minority Rights has already opened a special office in Belgrade airport and published guidelines for returnees.  Serious difficulties are still being faced by long-term internally displaced people, mostly those of minority origin and especially Roma from Kosovo, in accessing recognised documentation and thereby basic social services.  This situation could be assimilated to de-facto statelessness for a number of people inside Serbia and it should be addressed as a national issue, eventually through a lex specialis, with the utmost urgency.  The absence of such a law, and of a funded and implemented national strategy for returns, could lead to a swelling of the numbers of people facing similar difficulties as well as putting particular strain on those municipalities which receive them in the coming months as the Re-admission agreement starts to be implemented.  

From all representatives of national minorities the Secretariat delegation heard the same list of complaints or concerns: 

1) The continuing absence of the legislation governing the election and powers of the Councils of the National Minorities.  A draft law prepared in 2006 by the Agency for Human and Minority Rights was not well received by the national minorities or by the international community, notably the experts of the Framework Convention[8] for the Protection of National Minorities who provided an expertise in early 2007.  A new draft law on the election and powers of the councils of national minorities is currently being worked on in the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government.  The working group preparing the draft is said to be consulting closely the representatives of the national minorities’ councils, however this draft law is now several years overdue and the existing councils mandates have run out.  The Albanian community has not yet established its National Council.  The Republic-level Council of the National Minorities, chaired by the Prime Minister, did not meet in 2007 at all, although it is expected to meet in early 2008. 

2) The discriminatory effects of the media privatisation process which is depriving many national minorities of any effective access to media in their own language.  One of the consequences of the media privatisation process has been the significant decrease of broadcast or print media in minority languages.  This particularly affects the Romani language community since it does not have a highly concentrated population base in specific localities which could be easily reached through local radio or television.

In December 2007 when local broadcasting frequencies were assigned,  Belgrade, where more than one third of Serbia’s Roma live, was treated as a region for the purposes of the law thus depriving Roma NGOs of the opportunity to tender and Belgrade’s Roma of nearly any Romani language programmes.  Considering the lack of sustainable economic viability for most national minority language broadcasting, the public service radio and television should be instrumental in solving this problem. 

3) Lack of improvement in the level of representation/employment of national minorities in the public administrations.  The government has adopted a Resolution on increasing the number of national minorities in State employment in 2006.  The Agency for Human and Minority Rights is tasked with implementing this resolution together with the Human Resources Agency of the Government.  Due to the constitutional prohibition on requiring anyone to declare their national (ethnic) origin and the fact that the vast majority of public servants and applicants refrain from declaring it, the only means of monitoring the level of employment of national minorities is through indications about the languages spoken.  The strategy for implementing the resolution is also based on the advertising of vacancies in national minority languages and publications and eventually on preferential hiring of speakers of certain national minority languages.

4) Possible consequences of the implementation of the Re-admission Agreement.  The consequences of the potential increase of returnees with the entry into force of the Re-admission agreement can take two forms.  One is the increase of persons of national minority origin in difficult or vulnerable situations.  It has been noted by the Agency for Human and Minority Rights that the majority of persons who have been or will be subject to re-admission proceeding are of national minority origins.  The second is the fear that the ethnic or demographic characteristics of particular municipalities or areas might be changed or seriously affected by government organised re-settlement of returnees.  No national strategy for dealing with returnees is yet available, therefore it would be advisable for the relevant public authorities, particularly the Ministry of the Interior and the Agency for Human and Minority Rights, to work together with relevant international organisations and national minority representatives to overcome these concerns and to develop a pragmatic way forward respecting European standards.

The role of the State with regard to religion and religious communities remains controversial in Serbia.  The second report, in July 2007, outlined the difficulties faced by some smaller, mostly protestant, religious communities with the registration process established under the 2006 law on Churches and Religious Communities.  The Ministry of Religion, in responding to the second report and in follow-up to the meeting with the Secretariat delegation, informed the Secretariat that 16 churches and/or religious communities have been registered in the Register Book of the Ministry of Religion.  Based on the information from the Ministry, the Secretariat delegation understands that the Ministry of Religion considers that the registration of churches and/or religious communities in Serbia is more or less complete.  Those churches or religious communities which have not been registered with the Ministry of Religion, two of which have filed complaints with the Supreme Court, may nevertheless retain the status of a legal entity (in order to own property, engage staff, receive funds, etc.) either by having been registered under the previous legislation (1970s) or by registering as an association under the “law on Associations”.  Although the individual right to believe, worship or preach is not affected by the legal status of a church or religious community, the real capacity to exercise one’s right to manifest one’s belief, in public or in private, alone or in community with others, is limited when the community may not collectively enter into contracts (such as for rent or purchases of premises for services) or open a bank account.  Representatives of dissatisfied religious communities have informed the Secretariat of an impossible combination of bureaucracy preventing smaller religious communities from regularising their legal status: lack of recognition by the public authorities of the certificates of registration issued under the previous legislation, refusal of registration as a church by the Ministry of Religion because a church with a similar name is already registered or because the Ministry has assessed that the applicant community is not a religion but a “citizen’s association”, and, finally, of being refused registration as an association by the Ministry of Public Affairs and Local Government due to the fact that the “association” is clearly a religious community.

The lack of transparency of media ownership continues to contribute to the politicisation of media in Serbia and to personal attacks in the media against political opponents or indeed to political attacks against media outlets.  A new draft law on prevention of media concentration is currently being drafted by a working group which is receiving support from the OSCE and the Council of Europe.  The media privatisation was meant to be implemented by the end of 2007, but has been prolonged until end March 2008, after which no media should be subsidised from the State budget.  Several private news agencies have protested, however, the continued public funding of the Tanjug news agency.  Instructions issued in October 2007 by the Republican Broadcasting Agency (RBA) to Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) ordering it to transmit live broadcasts of all parliament sessions were strongly protested by RTS which insisted on its independent editorial policy, even as a public service broadcaster.  Following expressions of concern by the international community, notably the OSCE, pointing out the instruction’s incompatibility with European standards, the RBA later changed it into a recommendation.

Additionally during the reporting period Serbia signed the European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (Revised), the European Landscape Convention, the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society, and the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.  On 9 January 2008, Serbia ratified the Council of Europe Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.

IV.      Developments Related to Specific Accession Commitments

Most of the formal, dated, commitments undertaken by the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, continued by the Republic of Serbia, have been fulfilled.  The main exception, which has been repeatedly emphasised by the Committee of Ministers, is the requirement of full co-operation with the ICTY, notably the transfer to the ICTY of the remaining indicted fugitives. 

Some commitments were specifically related to the institutional arrangements of the State Union and while it is obvious that these are no longer directly relevant to the Republic of Serbia, whether or not these were fulfilled during the membership of the State Union, some of those commitments should be understood as requiring implementation in the new institutional structures of the Republic of Serbia.   In this section, the Secretariat wishes to point out recent developments with regard to the commitments as well as to clarify the expectations of the Council of Europe in regard to commitments which were related to the State Union or which have a less precise formulation.  A table outlining the state of completion of the commitments listed in PACE Opinion 239 can be found in the document SG/Inf (2008)3 Addendum.

1.                  Conventions :

During the reporting period Serbia ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government and this important European Treaty entered into force on 1 January 2008.

The other Conventions from Opinion 239 which remain to be signed and/or ratified are  the European Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation which has been neither signed nor ratified (deadline two years after accession), and the European Social Charter (Revised) which was signed on 22 March 2005, but has not been ratified.  The deadline for the ratification of the ESC is indicated in the Opinion as « as soon as possible », this should not be interpreted as “no fixed deadline”.  Rather, the request to ratify « as soon as possible » is indicative of the importance of this convention and is a call for making its ratification a priority, while nonetheless bearing in mind the practical arrangements necessary for this.

2.                  Institutional Reforms :

The commitments concerning the Constitutional Charter of the State Union, and the consequences for the constitutions of the former Republics are of course no longer relevant.  It should be recalled however that the general expectation that great heed be paid to Council of Europe standards in relation to the Constitution is always relevant, and the Opinion of the Venice Commission on the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia remains as a road map for implementing the constitution and related legislation in full compliance with European standards.

Concerning the constitutional and legislative framework for local democracy, several important laws have been adopted on 29 December 2007: on territorial organisation, on local self-government, on local elections and on the capital city.  These laws will be the fundamental building blocks for local and regional democracy in Serbia.  The on-going Joint Programme between the Council of Europe and the European Commission is providing support for the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government on the legislation as well as on the drafting of basic principles for local self-government finances, property and officials. 

The need for reforms in order to guarantee the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and the systemic relationships between judges, prosecutors and the police remains as valid as it was in 2003.  Serious progress has of course been made over the years, particularly in the functioning of the police, however the overall reform strategy has stagnated and is now being overhauled again as the Ministry of Justice prepares a package of legislation to govern the justice sector.  The planned draft laws on the high judicial council, prosecutorial council, on judges, on courts, on the public prosecutor’s office will eventually be complemented by a new criminal procedure code as well as law on the anti-corruption agency.  These intentions of the Ministry of Justice signal a major renewal of the judiciary and criminal justice system.

3.         Human Rights :

During the reporting period overall co-operation with ICTY remained insufficient according to the former ICTY Prosecutor.  Although some improvement on document sharing and witnesses was registered, the continuing lack of action on the location and transfer of the remaining 4 indictees cannot allow for a determination of full co-operation.  The Serbian authorities have set up a telephone tip line and offered substantial rewards for information leading to the location and capture of the fugitives.  This initiative was welcomed by the ICTY as a means also to increase public awareness and support for the importance of their transfer to the Hague.  However, during the reporting period the ICTY also made public their knowledge of the presence of both Mladic and Karadzic in Belgrade in 2005 and 2004 respectively. 

One of the commitments undertaken at the time of accession to the Council of Europe was “to inform the people of Serbia about the crimes committed by the regime of Slobodan Milosevic, not only against other peoples of the region, but also against the Serbs”.  There has been very little evidence of implementation of this commitment from the public authorities, although there have been some initiatives from the non-governmental sector. 

Legislation on conscientious objectors has not yet been adopted, however, the Ministry of Defence is preparing the draft law, which can now move forward since the law on the Army has been adopted in December 2007 and has indicated that it will request Council of Europe expertise on the draft.

4.      Domestic Legislation :

The Constitutional Charter of 2003 (the State Union level) established civilian control of the army.  The Serbian constitution of 2006, also foresees civilian oversight of the military.  Specific legislation, required to ensure this in practice (laws on defence, state security and the army) was adopted on 11 December 2007.  In particular, a parliamentary civilian oversight commission is to be established.

Significant improvements have been made to the electoral legislation in both the State Union and in Serbia since 2003, but some aspects are still not in conformity with European standards, most notably the manner in which MP mandates are distributed after the election and the constitutional provision that MP mandates may belong to the political parties rather than to the individual MP.  New legislation on the election of the President has been passed on 11 December and a new law on local elections was adopted on 29 December.

The law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance was amended in June 2007 and the Commissioner was appointed. Recently, the Ministry of Defence led by example when it was the first ministry to very promptly provide the specific documents requested through the law on free access to information of public importance by the Humanitarian Law Centre, in this case they were related to the NATO bombing of the Radio Television Serbia building in April 1999.

The Serbian Parliament adopted the law on Asylum on 23 November 2007, it will enter into force in April 2008.  UNHCR has issued a statement to the effect that this law fulfils the requirements of the Geneva Convention.

Serbia should enact legislation on citizens’ associations and non-governmental organisations consistent with European standards for non-profit organisations.  Following a series of draft laws, another draft law on citizens’ associations is before the Parliament.  This draft, presented by the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, has benefited from discussions with MPs, non-governmental organisations’ representatives and Council of Europe experts.

V.        Conclusions, Recommendations

Serbia is making progress in consolidating its democratic institutions.  The successful chairmanship of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers demonstrated that Serbia is capable of taking a leadership role in international institutions.  The rapid conclusion of the negotiations with the European Commission on the text of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement also attests to the very high level of technical capability of the public authorities in Serbia to implement their European commitments. Most of the formal obligations and commitments entered into when joining the Council of Europe have been fulfilled.  However, the lack of full co-operation with the ICTY and the handing over of indicted war criminals still at large remains a stumbling block.  With the future status process for Kosovo still hanging and two election campaigns looming in Serbia, a very delicate political phase is being entered now.  All political actors should continue to publicly demonstrate their dedication to the basic values of democratic society, of respect for human rights and the rule of law.  Calls for violence of any sort should be firmly rebuked within Serbian society and political circles.

During the first seven months of the new government and the new Parliament, political deals and the need to call elections have been the main impetus for adopting legislation.  Unfortunately, this has meant that often the drafting process was slow and then laws were adopted in urgency, leaving no time or interest for taking serious account of Council of Europe expertise.   It could only be beneficial for Serbia to make better, more timely and more significant use of Council of Europe expertise on draft legislation and strategies.  The Council of Europe is prepared to provide significant support in particular during the next period for:

Ø  Draft law on the election and powers of the councils of the national minorities and any other legislation concerning the protection of national minorities ;

Ø  Draft law on associations

Ø  Draft law on non-discrimination

Ø  Draft laws on the justice system and the judiciary

Ø  Draft law on conscientious objection

Ø  Laws concerning anti-corruption

Ø  Laws concerning the election of deputies to the National Assembly

Ø  Reforming of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament.

Recommendations:

Ø  Ensure full and complete co-operation with the ICTY,

Ø  Adopt transparent procedures and criteria for the appointment of judges which are in accordance with European standards and guarantee the independence of the judiciary.  The opinion of the Venice Commission would help to ensure this.

Ø  Prepare a national strategy for the implementation of the Re-admission Agreement to support re-integration of returnees, with special attention to the additional difficulties of returnees of national minority origins, including remedial language support for children, and access to documentation, etc.

Ø  Find adequate solutions to the issues concerning national minority language media, whether through the public service broadcasters or through public support for private media initiatives.

VI.      Decisions

1017th meeting – 6 February 2008

Item 2.1a

Current political questions

a.         Activities for the development and consolidation of democratic stability

Decisions

The Deputies

1.         took note of the synopsis of the GR-DEM meeting held on 31 January 2008 (document
GR-DEM(2008)CB2-rev);

Concerning Serbia

In the light of the third report on the Republic of Serbia concerning compliance with obligations and commitments and the implementation of the post-accession co-operation programme (document SG/Inf(2008)3),

9.         welcomed the positive developments which have taken place since the second report, in particular the ratification and entry into force of the European Charter for Local Self-Government in respect of Serbia;

10.       recognised the readiness of the Serbian authorities to fulfil the remaining commitments and called upon them to secure full implementation of those remaining commitments as soon as possible, in particular to ensure full and complete co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY);

11.       encouraged the Serbian authorities to:

·            continue the comprehensive reform of the judicial system in order to apply transparent procedures and criteria for the appointment of judges which are in accordance with European standards and guarantee the independence of the judiciary;

·            finalise a national strategy aimed at further supporting re-integration of returnees, with special attention to the additional difficulties of returnees of national minority origins;

·            continue to support national minority language media and find adequate solutions to the remaining concerns regarding these media, whether through the public service broadcasters or through public support for private media initiatives;

12.              encouraged the Serbian authorities to follow-up the recommendations contained in the third report, and in particular to make the best possible use of Council of Europe expertise and assistance for relevant draft legislation;

13.       invited the authorities of Serbia to continue the good practice of keeping the Secretariat informed on a regular basis with a view to the preparation of the next monitoring report.

Appendix I

Monitoring Mission of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers

visit to Serbia

2-6 December 2007

Agenda

Sunday, 2 December

16h40                         Arrival to Belgrade airport from Frankfurt, flight nr. JU 351

17h15                         Accommodation at the hotel Balkan, Prizrenska 2

19h30-21h30              Dinner with representatives of the Diplomatic Core:

                                   Mr. Paulo da Silva, Ambassador of Portugal

                                   Ms. Jadranka Sturm Kocijan, Deputy, Embassy of Slovenia

                                   Mr. Jens Modvig, Director of UN Office in Belgrade

                                   Mr. Anthony Pahigian, Deputy Head of OSCE Mission to Serbia

                                   Venue: Restaurant Kalemegdanska terasa, Kalemegdan

Monday, 3 December

10h00 –10h45             Meeting with Ms. Esmeralda Hernandez Aragones, Head of the Political Department of the Delegation of the European Commission

Venue: EC, Krunska 73

11h00-11h45              Meeting with Mr. Radomir Naumov, Minister of Religion

Venue: Palace of Serbia, Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 2

12h00-12h45              Meeting with Mr. Vuk Jeremic, Minister of Foreign Affairs

                                   Venue: MoFA, Kneza Milosa

13h00-14h30              Lunch hosted by Ministry of Foreign Affairs

                                   Venue: MP’s Club, Tolstojeva2

14h45-15h15              Meeting with Mr. Oliver Dulic, Speaker of the National Assembly

                                   Venue: Parliament of Serbia, Kralja Milana 14

15h45-16h15              Meeting with Mr. Rasim Ljajic, Minister for Labour and Social Affairs,

                                   Venue: Palace of Serbia, Bulevar Mihaila Pupina 2

Tuesday, 4 December

08h00-08h30               Working breakfast with Mr. Deyan Mihov, Head of ICTY Office in Belgrade

                                    Venue: Hotel Balkan, Prizrenska 2

09h00-09h40              Meeting with H.E.Mr. Stephen John Wordsworth, Ambassador of Great Britain

                                    Venue: Embassy of Great Britain, Resavska 46

10h00-10h45               Meeting with Mr. Dragan Jocic, Minister of Interior

                                    Venue: Palace of Serbia, Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 2

11h00-11h45               Meeting with Mr. Milan Markovic, Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government

                                    Venue: MoPALSG, Bircaninova 6

12h00-12h45               Meeting with Mr. Dusan Petrovic, Minister of Justice

                                    Venue: Government Building, Nemanjina 22-26

15h20                         Departure of Jean-Louis Laurens, flight nr. JU 330 to Zurich

14h00 –16h00            Meeting with NGOs:

Belgrade Center for Human Rights

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights

Venue: Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Sindjeliceva 9

16:00 – 17:00             Meeting with NGOs:

Group 484

Refugee Council of Serbia

Venue: Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Sindjeliceva 9

17:00 – 18:00             Meeting with NGOs:

Civic Initiatives

Fund for an open Society 

Venue: Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Sindjeliceva 9

Wednesday, 5 December

08h00-08h30               Meeting with Mr. Davor Rako, UNHCR Associate Protection Officer

                                    Venue: Hotel Balkan, Prizrenska 2

09h00-09h45               Meeting with Mr. Petar Ladjevic, Agency for Human and Minority Rights

                                   Venue: Palace of Serbia, Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 2

10h0010h45                Meeting with Ms. Vida Petrovic-Skero, President of the Supreme Court

Venue: Supreme Court of Serbia, Resavska 42

11h00-11h45              Meeting with Mr. Sasa Jankovic, Ombudsman

                                   Venue: Office of Ombudsman, Nikole Pasica 13

12h00-12h45              Meeting with Mr. Dragisa Dabetic, Commissioner for Refugees

                                   Venue: Commissariat for Refugees, Carice Milice 2

13h00-13h45              Meeting with Ms. Verica Barac, Anti-Corruption Council

                                   Venue: Supreme Court of Serbia, Nemanjina 11

14h00-14h45               Meeting with Mr. Slobodan Vukcevic, Special Prosecutor for War Crimes

Venue: Office of the War Crime Prosecutor, Ustanicka 29, 3^rd floor, room 319

15h00-16h15               Meeting with Ms. Ksenija Milivojevic and Mr. Vladimir Todoric, advisers of the Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic and Srdjan Majstorovic, Deputy Director of the European Integration Office

                                   Venue: Government building, Nemanjina 11

16h30-17h15               Meeting with Mr. Milos Aligrudic, President of the National Delegation of the Parliament of Serbia to PACE

Venue: National Assembly, Ceremony Hall

17h30-18h00              Meeting with Mr Pastor Balint, Head of minority parliamentary group 

Venue: Home of National Assembly, Nikole Pasica 13, hall 2

18h00-18h30              Meeting with Tomislav Nikolic, Head of parliamentary group of Radical party (SRS)

Venue: Home of National Assembly, Nikole Pasica 13, hall 1

18h30-19h00              Meeting with Mr. Zarko Obradovic, Parliamentary group of Socialist party of Serbia (SPS)

Venue: Home of National Assembly, Nikole Pasica 13, hall 2

19h00-19h30              Meeting with Ivan Andric and Nebojsa Prokic, Parliamentary group of Liberal Democratic Party (LSP)

Venue: Home of National Assembly, Nikole Pasica 13, hall 1

19h30-21h30              Dinner with CoE Belgrade Office staff

                                   Venue: Restaurant Madera, Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 43

Thursday, 6 December

06h05                         Departure of Claudia Luciani, flight nr. AZ 539 to Milan

10h00 – 12h00           Meeting with NGOs:

Voice of Roma - radio

Center for Civil Development

Forum 18

Venue: Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Sindjeliceva 9

12h00-13h00              Meeting with Ms. Dragana Boljevic and Mr. Omer Hadziomerovic, Judges Association of Serbia

Venue: Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Sindjeliceva 9

13h00-13h30              Meeting with Aleksander Marton and Alexsandra Jerkov, Parliamentary Group of Vojvodina (LSV, SVM)

                                   Venue: Assembly of Serbia, Trg Nikole Pasica, hall 2

21h15                         Departure of Mary-Ann Hennessey, flight nr. JU 114 to Skopje