Serbia

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Serbia

Constitution President (List) Boris Tadić National Assembly Speaker Slavica Đukić Dejanović Government Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković Political parties Elections President: 2008 Parliament: 2008 Provincial: 2008 Local: 2008 Subdivisions Districts Municipalities Foreign relations EU accession

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The current Constitution of Serbia was approved by a constitutional referendum held in 2006 during October 28 and October 29. It was officially proclaimed by the Parliament of Serbia on 8 November 2006,^[1] replacing the Constitution of 1990. Previous Serbian constitutions were adopted during the Principality and Kingdom periods, (1835, 1838, 1869, 1888, 1901 and 1903) and, during the Socialist Republic of Serbia, (1947, 1963 and 1974).

Contents 1 Constitution 1.1 Kosovo in the Constitution 1.2 Language in the Constitution 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Constitution

In the preamble, Kosovo is defined as an "integral part of Serbia with substantial autonomy"; the first article then defines Serbia as a "state of the Serbian people and all citizens". It also defines Serbia as an independent state for the first time since 1918.^[2]

Among the constitution's two hundred other articles are guarantees of human rights, including minority rights and the banning of capital punishment and human cloning. It also grants a form of self-rule and economic autonomy for the province of Vojvodina. It assigns Cyrillic as the only alphabet for official use, while making provisions for the use of minority languages at local levels.^[3]

Among the differences between the new constitution and its 1990 predecessor:

• Only private, corporate and public property is acknowledged; social assets cease to exist and shall be transferred to private owners.
• Foreign citizens are permitted to own property.
• Reappointment of judges
• The President is the Commander in Chief of the military.
• The constitution mentions "European values and standards" for the first time.
• Full independence is granted to the National Bank of Serbia.
• As part of a process of decentralization, the granting of municipal properties' ownership rights to local municipalities.
• The province of Vojvodina is granted economic autonomy.
• The adoption of an official Serbian anthem, Bože pravde.
• Special protection for the rights of consumers, mothers, children and minorities.
• Greater freedom of information.
• Marriage is defined as the "union between a man and a woman"

[edit] Kosovo in the Constitution

The Constitution defines Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija as the integral part of Serbia, but with substantial autonomy.

Under the opinion of the Venice Commission in respect to substantial autonomy of Kosovo, an examination of the Constitution makes it clear that 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.^[4]

[edit] Language in the Constitution

Under the previous Constitution of the Republic of Serbia (1990–2006) the official language was Serbo-Croatian, and both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets were in official use. The new Constitution brought back the Serbian language as the only official language, and the Cyrillic alphabet as the only one in official use.

[edit] See also

• Serbian constitutional referendum, 2006
• Constitutional status of Kosovo

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Constitution of Serbia

• Constitution of Republic of Serbia in HTML format
• Constitution of Republic of Serbia in PDF format
• Previous Constitution of Serbia (1990 Constitution)
• "Rare unity over Serb constitution", BBC News, 30 October 2006

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