Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade. File photoBELGRADE, Jan 15A referendum on amendments to the Serbian constitution in the field of justice has been scheduled for January 16, because the authorities of the country and the EU need it soon, citizens have not fully understood the legal intricacies, political analyst Bosko Jaksic told RIA Novosti. In Serbia, a referendum is scheduled for January 16 to amend the constitution in the area of justice to bring it closer to EU standards. We are talking about the procedure for selecting judges in all bodies of the legal system — from the world's courts to the constitutional. The question is worded as follows: «Do you agree with the confirmation of the act amending the constitution of Serbia?» The country's parliament also abolished the 50% turnout threshold for a referendum to take place, now a simple majority is enough. Members of the Serbian leadership have repeatedly called on citizens to give a positive answer to the plebiscite question.Vučić called Serbia a militarily neutral country The constitutional amendments suggest that Serbian judges will now choose six of their colleagues, the parliament will choose four lawyers with at least 10 years of experience, they will be joined by the chairman of the Supreme Court and together they will form the High Council of Judges (HJC) . The HJC will then itself approve judges in all bodies of the system. The High Council of Prosecutors with similar powers will be formed in a similar way. Previously, judges and prosecutors with a trial period for the first three years were elected by the parliament, that is, the ruling majority in the Assembly.According to the analyst, the plebiscite is needed to eliminate the opposition and the EU's claim that political authorities have too much influence on judges. «It is proposed to change the method choice of judges and prosecutors, but even lawyers are divided in opinion.Some of those who support the government say they will vote «no» because the proposed version does not have enough separation between the executive and judicial branches of government.The referendum issue could be more clearly explained to citizens — not lawyers, what changes are proposed. I think that the referendum has been hastily scheduled with insufficient public discussion and explanation to voters,» Jaksic told the agency. The Serbian Progressive Party would use as an argument in support of its status before the parliamentary and presidential elections on April 3,» the analyst suggested. The embassies of the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy and the EU delegation on Friday called on the citizens of Serbia to go to a referendum in a joint open statement. Western diplomats are «confident that these reforms are the way forward for Serbia's alignment with EU standards, which will help the process of Serbia's integration into the EU.» disagreements with Poland. Therefore, these steps are expected from Belgrade to harmonize judicial legislation with EU norms. But (European Commission for Democracy through Law — ed.) The Venice Commission pointed out some shortcomings and that the proposed solutions could be better,» The interlocutor of the agency noted. Serbia has been a candidate for EU membership since March 2012, negotiations on joining the European Union began in January 2014. By December 2021, Belgrade opened 22 of the 35 chapters of the accession negotiation platform. With the introduction of a new negotiation methodology by Brussels in 2019, the chapters were grouped into thematic clusters. The chapter of the negotiation platform 23 «Justice and Fundamental Rights» was opened in July 2016 and is located in cluster number 1. continuation of constructive dialogue with Serbia
