The current Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, also known as Mitrovdan Constitution is the supreme and basic law of Serbia. It was adopted in 2006, replacing the previous constitution dating from 1990.

History

The adoption of current constitution became necessary in 2006 when Serbia restored its independence following Montenegro's secession and the subsequent dissolution of Serbia and Montenegro. The proposed text of the constitution was adopted by the National Assembly on 30 September 2006 and put on constitutional referendum which was held on 28–29 October 2006. After 53% of the electorate voted in favor of the proposed constitution, it was officially adopted on 8 November 2006. A constitutional referendum was held again on 16 January 2022, in which voters decided on changing the constitution in the provisions related to the judiciary. To bring the judiciary into line with European Union legislation, the Government of Serbia had previously proposed changing the way judges and public prosecutors are elected. After the adoption of constitutional changes, the National Assembly would have less influence on the election of certain judicial factors, such as the president of the Supreme Court, court presidents, public prosecutors, judges, and deputy public prosecutors. The National Assembly would then only elect four members of the High Judicial Council, High Prosecutorial Council, and the Supreme Public Prosecutor. The High Judicial Council would instead get a more important role by electing all judges, while the High Prosecutorial Council would elect prosecutors. The Supreme Court of Cassation's name would also be changed to the Supreme Court and its work would be more regulated. Government officials stated their support for such changes, while the opposition remained divided; most stated their objection to the referendum while some even called for a boycott or for the referendum to be postponed. The "yes" option prevailed over the "no" option in the referendum, although turnout was reported to be the lowest since 1990, at only 30% of voters in total. Constitutional changes were adopted by the National Assembly on 9 February.

Constitutional history

The constitutional history of Serbia goes back to 1219, when first proto-constitution, Saint Sava's Nomocanon, was written. Serbia has had 13 constitutions throughout its history:

Content

The Constitution contains a preamble, 11 chapters, and 206 articles.

Preamble

The constitution of contains a preamble:

Chapters

The constitution is divided into 10 chapters:

New provisions

Among the differences between the current and previous constitution are:

Constitutional status of Kosovo

The current constitution defines the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija as an integral part of Serbia, but with "substantial autonomy". Under the opinion of the Venice Commission in respect to substantial autonomy of Kosovo, this fundamental autonomy is not at all guaranteed at the constitutional level, as the constitution delegates almost every important aspect of this autonomy to the legislature.