Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has today signed decrees promulgating a package of justice-related laws, adopted by the Serbian Parliament at the proposal of Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) MP Uglješa Mrdić. The laws were published in Serbia’s Official Gazette and are dated January 30.
The package of legal amendments has sparked strong reactions both domestically and internationally, including from European Union institutions, which have assessed these changes as a step backward in Serbia’s European integration process.
President Vučić signed the following laws:
– Law amending and supplementing the Law on the seats and jurisdiction of courts and public prosecutor’s offices
– Law amending the Law on the High Prosecutorial Council
– Law amending and supplementing the Law on the organization and competencies of state authorities in combating high-tech crime
– Law amending and supplementing the Law on the Public Prosecutor’s Office
– Law amending the Law on Judges
– Law amending the Law on Civil Servants
One day earlier, Vučić had stated that he had not read the so-called “Mrdić laws,” but that he had consulted experts regarding their constitutionality. He added that he had received assurances that the laws were in line with the Constitution, while avoiding a direct answer on whether he would sign them.
The adoption of these laws has not been well received by the European Union. EU representatives have warned that the changes could represent a serious setback on Serbia’s path toward EU membership. The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, called on the Serbian Parliament to urgently reconsider the legislative package.
Serbian legal experts have also reacted strongly, criticizing both the adoption procedure and the substance of the laws, which they described as a rushed and dangerous intervention in the judicial system. According to them, the implementation of these laws could lead to the termination of the mandates of more than half of the prosecutors in the Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office, risking the blockage or delay of the cases they are currently handling.
