Extraordinary Session of Parliament Begins; Judicial Law Amendments on the Agenda

120 members of parliament are attending the session.

At the start of the session, MPs adopted a proposal to hold a joint general debate on all agenda items.

The proposal was submitted by Milenko Jovanov, head of the parliamentary group "Aleksandar Vučić – Serbia Must Not Stop."

MPs also adopted Jovanov’s proposal that the detailed consideration of the draft laws listed under items 1 through 15 of the agenda be conducted immediately following the conclusion of the general debate on those legislative proposals.

Lawmakers will consider proposed amendments to the Law on Public Prosecutions, the Law on Judges, the Law on the High Council of Prosecutions, the Law on Seats and Territorial Jurisdictions of Courts and Public Prosecutor’s Offices, and the Law on the Organization and Competence of State Authorities for Combating High-Tech Crime.

The National Assembly adopted the amendments to these judicial laws in January. Following objections from Brussels, the President of the National Assembly, Ana Brnabić, requested an urgent opinion from the Venice Commission in February.

After the Venice Commission published its urgent opinion on 24 April, revised amendments to the package of judicial laws were submitted in May in accordance with the Commission’s recommendations.

Following her participation in the Venice Commission session held on 12 June, during which the proposed judicial amendments were discussed, Brnabić stated that the Commission had issued a positive opinion on the changes.

Yesterday, the Venice Commission announced that Serbian institutions had taken serious steps within a very short period to align the legislative framework with the recommendations contained in its urgent opinion.

The agenda, scheduled at the request of 101 MPs, also includes proposed amendments to the Law on Human Cells and Tissues and the Law on the Transplantation of Human Organs, both submitted by the Government of Serbia.

Deputies are also expected to discuss amendments to the Law on Establishing a Guarantee Scheme and Subsidizing Part of the Interest as a Measure to Support Young People in Purchasing Their First Residential Property, as well as amendments to the Law on Establishing Public Interest and Special Procedures for the Implementation of the Infrastructure Corridor Project on the E-761 Motorway, Pojate - Preljina section, also submitted by the Government.

The agenda further includes several bills authorizing state guarantees for credit arrangements, as well as the ratification of several international agreements.