Presidential Palace in BelgradeBELGRADE, Jan 16In Serbia, polling stations for a referendum on changes to the country's constitution in the field of justice were closed, the Republican Electoral Commission (RIC) reported. Voting in the referendum took place on Sunday from 7.00 (9.00 Moscow time) to 20.00 (22.00 Moscow time) at 8029 polling stations in Serbia, with the exception of Kosovo and Metohija. Over 6.5 million people had the right to vote. Kosovo «Prime Minister» Albin Kurti said on January 13 that Serbs in the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo would be able to participate in the referendum by mail or at a liaison office in Pristina. The Kosovo Albanian authorities categorically refused to hold a referendum in Serb-populated areas, despite calls from international missions and Western embassies.Vučić voted in the referendum on changes to the constitution of SerbiaAccording to the election commission, 25.25% of the total number of voters voted on the territory of Serbia until 18.00 (20.00 Moscow time), the expression of will passed peacefully, with the exception of one incident. The Serbian police detained the opposition leader Srdjan Nogo, who broke the ballot box at one of the polling stations in Belgrade. The RIC reported that the polling stations were closed at 20.00 (22.00 Moscow time), the first preliminary results are expected by 22.00 (00.00 Moscow time) The question for the referendum is formulated as follows: » Do you agree with the confirmation of the act amending the constitution of Serbia?» We are talking about the procedure for selecting judges in all bodies of the legal system — from the main courts to the constitutional one. The country's parliament previously abolished the turnout threshold of 50% in order for the referendum to take place, a simple majority of votes is sufficient. Members of the Serbian leadership, headed by President Aleksandar Vučić, have repeatedly urged citizens to give a positive answer to the plebiscite question. Amendments to the constitution provide for the formation of a High Council of Judges (HJC) in the country, which will consist of six delegates from judges, four experienced lawyers elected by parliament, and a chairman Supreme Court. The HJC itself will approve judges in the country. The High Council of Prosecutors with similar powers will be formed in a similar way. Previously, judges and prosecutors with a probationary period for the first three years were elected by the parliament, that is, the ruling majority in the Assembly. 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.» Russian senators as part of the observer mission from the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly take part in the monitoring at the referendum. The delegation included, in particular, members of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Elena Afanasyeva and Sergey Berezkin. constitution
