Constitutional Court of Serbia

Summary

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Уставни суд Републике Србије; Ustavni sud Republike Srbije) is the court authorized to perform judicial review in Serbia. It rules on whether the laws, decrees or other bills enacted by the Serbian authorities are in conformity with the Constitution. It is not considered as part of the judicial branch, but a court sui generis. The Constitutional Court is authorized by the Constitution itself and the Law on the Constitutional Court.[2]

Constitutional Court of Serbia
Уставни суд Републике Србије
Building of the Constitutional Court
Established9 April 1963; 60 years ago (1963-04-09)
LocationBelgrade, Bulevar kralja Aleksandra 15
Composition methodParliament selection (5 members)
Supreme Court of Cassation selection (5 members)
Presidential selection (5 members)
Authorized byConstitution
Judge term length9 years
Number of positions15
Annual budget3.72 million (2020, planned)[1]
Websitewww.ustavni.sud.rs
President
CurrentlySnežana Marković
Since26 January 2020; 4 years ago (2020-01-26)

The seat of the Constitutional Court is in Belgrade. It consists of 15 judges, one of them being President of the Court.[3]

History edit

The Constitutional Court of the Socialist Republic of Serbia (then part of SFR Yugoslavia) was established on 9 April 1963 as an independent body of the Republic and designated to protect constitutionality and legality in accordance with the Constitution and within the framework of the rights and duties proscribed by the 1963 Constitution of SR Serbia. The Constitutional Law of Serbia, enacted on 25 December 1963, defined jurisdiction and adjudications before the Constitutional Court and legal effects of its decisions in a more specific manner.

The Constitutional Court of Serbia commenced its work on 15 February 1964. The Constitutional Court has upon proclamation of the 1990 Constitution of Serbia acted within the framework of absence of division of powers, where the Parliament was the highest body of state power. The Constitutional Court has through its presence and work contributed to the importance and contribution in preservation of the constitutional principles and legality.[4]

Composition edit

The Constitutional Court consists of 15 judges. Five of them are elected by the President of Serbia, five by the National Assembly, and five are elected at the General Session of the Supreme Court of Cassation. Judges are elected to the 9-year term. The candidates have to be accomplished lawyers of at least 40 years of age and with at least 15 years of experience in jurisprudence. One person can be elected to the Court a maximum of two times. After the election, the judges take oath before the President of the National Assembly.

The term of the Constitutional Court judge ends after 9 years since the election, or by resignation, by retirement or by impeachment. A Constitutional Court judge may not perform any other public office or any other job at all, except for being a professor at the Law School of one of the universities in Serbia. A Constitutional Court judge enjoys immunity from prosecution.[3]

Composition as of 2022 (year of election given in the parenthesis):[5]

  • Snežana Marković (2016), President since 2020
  • Gordana Ajnšpiler Popović (2019)
  • Lidija Đukić (2019)
  • Tatjana Đurkić (nee Babić) (2016)
  • Dragana Kolarić (2016)
  • Tamaš Korhec (2016)
  • Vesna Ilić Prelić (2007)
  • Miroslav Nikolić (2016)
  • Vladan Petrov (2019)
  • Nataša Plavšić (2019)
  • Jovan Ćirić (2016)
  • Milan Škulić (2016), Deputy President since 2020
  • Tijana Šurlan (2016)

Two seats are currently vacant, as of January 2022.

Presidents of the Constitutional Court edit

Sources: [6][7]

Status
  Denotes service as acting President of the Court
No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Took office Left office
1   Petar Relić 26 June 1963 31 July 1971
2   Jovan Đorđević 15 July 1971 31 December 1979
3   Najdan Pašić 1 January 1980 14 October 1984
4   Radoslav Ratković 18 September 1984 7 November 1986
5   Đurđe Seničić 5 May 1987 3 June 1989
6   Miodrag Bogdanović 3 June 1988 26 June 1990
7   Balša Špadijer
(born 1936)
7 August 1990 30 June 1996
8   Ratko Butulija
(born 1941)[a]
30 June 1996 17 December 2001
  Verona Ádám Bokros
(born 1948)
17 December 2001 20 June 2002
9   Slobodan Vučetić
(born 1941)
20 June 2002 10 October 2006
  Verona Ádám Bokros
(born 1948)
10 October 2006 10 April 2007
  Milutin Đuričić
(born 1948)
10 April 2007 10 October 2007
  Dragica Marjanović
(born 1943)
10 October 2007 26 December 2007
10   Bosa Nenadić
(born 1953)
26 December 2007 23 December 2010
  Agneš Kartag-Odri
(born 1951)
23 December 2010 3 February 2011
11   Dragiša Slijepčević
(born 1955)
3 February 2011 3 February 2014
12   Vesna Ilić-Prelić
(born 1960)
3 February 2014 12 December 2016
  Goran Ilić
(born 1965)
12 December 2016 26 January 2017
(12)   Vesna Ilić-Prelić
(born 1960)
26 January 2017 26 January 2020
13   Snežana Marković
(born 1959)
26 January 2020 Incumbent

Library of the Constitutional Court edit

The Library of the Constitutional Court was formed after the Court had been established. According to the profile of its collections, the Library of the Constitutional Court is a specialized law library. The library is in charge of collecting, storing, cataloguing, and circulating literature from different branches of law, with special regard to constitutional legislation. The Library is in possession of a large collection of monographs, serial publications, and collections of papers. In addition, it has an electronic database of legal acts.

The Constitutional Court Library owns a valuable collection of legal acts issued in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Library cooperates with the head office of Belgrade City Library, National Library of Serbia and other libraries of similar profile.[8]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Acting to 25 December 1996.

See also edit

References edit

This article incorporates text from the Constitutional Court of Serbia official site ([1]), which is in the public domain, because it is a law, decree, regulation or official material of a Republic of Serbia state body or a body performing public functions, under the terms of Article 6, Paragraph 2 of Serbian copyright law. See Copyright.

  1. ^ "ЗАКОН О БУЏЕТУ РЕПУБЛИКЕ СРБИЈЕ ЗА 2020. ГОДИНУ" (PDF). parlament.gov.rs. Народна скупштина Републике Србије. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  2. ^ Constitutional Court of Serbia official site: Law on the Constitutional Court
  3. ^ a b Constitutional Court of Serbia official site: Election, appointment and termination of office (in Serbian)
  4. ^ Constitutional Court of Serbia official site: The history of the court from its foundation
  5. ^ Constitutional Court of Serbia official site: Composition
  6. ^ "Raniji predsednici Ustavnog suda". ustavni.sud.rs. Constitutional Court of Serbia. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Serbian ministries, etc". rulers.org. B. Schemmel. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  8. ^ Constitutional Court of Serbia official site: The Library of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia

External links edit

  • Constitutional Court of Serbia Official page (in English)