Human Rights in Serbia 2014
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
HUMAN RIGHTS IN SERBIA 2014 Belgrade Centre for Human Rights The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights was established in 1995 by a group of human rights experts and activists as a non-profit, non-governmental organisation. The main purpose of the Centre is to study human rights and humanitarian law, to disseminate knowledge about them and to educate indivi- duals engaged in these fields. The Centre hopes thereby to promote the development of democracy and rule of law in Serbia and Montenegro. The recipients of the services of the Centre and its target groups have been members of legislative bodies, judges and other members of the legal profession, law enforcement officers, military officers, NGO activists, teaching staff of institutions of higher learning, other educators, students, journalists etc. The most important areas of the Centre's activity are education, research, publishing, organisation of public debates, meetings, lectures and other forms of educating and informing the public about human rights, proposing model laws and recommendations for legislative reforms and reforms of state institutions, as well as reporting about the state of human rights. The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights has organised more than a hundred semi- nars and roundtables in Serbia and Monte- negro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia, established training programs for future lecturers on human rights issues and judges; hosted international conferences and lectures on issues of human rights and democracy. The Centre has published more than15 0 books. Among them are volumes devoted to specific issues, university textbooks of public international law, human rights and huma- nitarian law, collections of essays on human rights and humanitarian law, compilations of international documents on human rights, translations of books of foreign scholars, etc. For its accomplishments the Centre was awarded theBruno Kreisky Prize for 2000. The Belgrade Centre is member of the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI). Series Reports 24 Series Reports HUMAN RIGHTS IN SERBIA 2014 LAW, PRACTICE AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS Publisher The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights Beogradska Str. 54, Belgrade, Tel/fax. (011) 308 5328, 344 7121 e-mail: [email protected]; www.bgcentar.org.rs For the publisher Dr. Vesna Petrović Editor Dr. Vesna Petrović Translation Duška Tomanović Photograph on the cover Mihajlo Vasiljević ISBN 978-86-7202-154-7 Prepress and printing Dosije studio, Belgrade HUMAN RIGHTS IN SERBIA 2014 LAW, PRACTICE AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS Belgrade Centre for Human Rights Belgrade, 2015 The translation of this report was supported by the OSCE Mission to Serbia. The views herein expressed are solely those of the authors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Contents Abbreviations. 13 Preface . 17 Research Methodology . 19 Introduction . 23 SUMARRY . 29 Right to Life . 29 Prohibition of Ill-Treatment . 29 Status of Persons Deprived of Liberty. 30 Prohibition of Slavery, Forced Labour, Trafficking in Humans and Organs . 31 Judicial Reform and Court Independence and Impartiality. 32 Fair Trial . 34 Right to Privacy and Confidentiality of Correspondence . 35 Personal Data Protection and Protection of Privacy . 36 Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion. 37 Freedom of Expression. 38 Freedom of Peaceful Assembly . 39 Freedom of Association . 41 Right to Asylum . 42 Right to Work . 43 Right to Just and Favourable Conditions of Work. 45 Association in Trade Unions and Strikes. 46 Right to Social Security . 47 Right to Education . 48 Health Care. 49 Prohibition of Discrimination and Status of Minorities. 50 I SERBIA’S INTERNATIONAL LEGAL OBLIGATIONS. 57 1. Serbia’s Membership of International Organisations . 57 5 Human Rights in Serbia 2014 1.1. Overview of Serbia’s Headway in EU Accession . 58 2. International Human Rights Treaties and Serbia . 58 3. Fulfilment of Obligations Arising from Membership of International Organisations and Accession to International Treaties . 60 3.1. Applications against Serbia before the European Court of Human Rights in 2014 . 62 3.1.1. Statistics . 62 3.1.2. Appointment of the ECtHR Judge in Respect of Serbia. 63 3.1.3. Impact of ECtHR Case Law on the Jurisprudence of Serbian Courts of General Jurisdiction. 64 3.1.4. ECtHR Judgments with Respect to Serbia Delivered in 2014.. 64 4. Correlation between National and International Law. 69 II CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS. 71 1. Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and Provisions on Human Rights, Human Rights Restrictions and Derogations . 71 1.1. General . 71 1.2. Restrictions of Human Rights. 71 1.3. Derogation of Human Rights . 73 2. Constitutionality and Legality. 74 2.1. Constitutional Court of Serbia – Composition, Election of Judges and Jurisdiction. 74 2.2. Reviews of Constitutionality and Legality before the Constitutional Court of Serbia . 75 2.3. Selected Constitutional Court of Serbia 2014 Case Law . 76 2.3.1. Review of the Constitutionality of the Provisions of the Judicial Academy Act and the Acts on Judges and Public Prosecution Services. 76 2.3.2. Review of the Constitutionality of the Serbian Bar Chamber Decision on Fees for Registration in the Directory of Lawyers, Directory of Joint Law Offices and the Directory of Limited Liability Law Partnerships. 77 2.3.3. Review of the Constitutionality of Specific Provisions of the National Councils of National Minorities Act . 78 6 Contents 3. Effectiveness of Legal Remedies for the Protection of Human Rights Provided by the Serbian Legal System . 79 3.1. General . 79 3.2. Ordinary and Extraordinary Legal Remedies in Serbia’s Legal System . 79 3.3. Constitutional Appeals and Effectiveness of Constitutional Appeals . 81 4. Independent Human Rights Protection Authorities . 84 4.1. General . 84 4.2. Independent and Public Authorities . 85 4.3. Efficiency of the Independent Authorities . 88 4.4. Adoption of the Whistle-Blowers Protection Act . 90 III INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS . 95 1. Right to Life . 95 1.1. General . 95 1.2. State’s Obligations with Respect to the Right to Life . 95 1.3. The ECtHR Judgment in the Case of Petrović v. Serbia . 100 1.4. Euthanasia . 101 2. Prohibition of Ill-Treatment and Status of Persons Deprived of Liberty. 102 2.1. General . 102 2.2. Use of Force by State Agents . 105 2.3. Conditions in Penitentiaries, Detention Units and Police Custody . 110 3. Prohibition of Slavery, Forced Labour, Trafficking in Humans and Organs. 110 3.1. General . 110 3.2. Trafficking in Human Organs . 111 3.3. Trafficking in Human Beings . 112 3.4. Smuggling of People. 115 3.5. Forced Labour . 116 4. Right to Liberty and Security of Person. 118 4.1. General . 118 7 Human Rights in Serbia 2014 4.2. Overcrowded Penitentiaries . 119 4.3. Deprivation of Liberty under the Criminal Procedure Code . 123 4.4. Confinement in the Nikola Tesla Airport Transit Zone . 124 4.5. Damages for Unlawful Deprivation of Liberty . 125 5. Right to a Fair Trial. 128 5.1. General . 128 5.2. Judicial System . 130 5.3. Independence and Impartiality of Courts . 131 5.3.1. Election and Appointment of Judges. 132 5.3.2. Termination of Judicial Office and Disciplinary Proceedings. 135 5.3.3. Guarantees of Judicial Independence . 136 5.3.4. Pressures on the Judiciary . 138 5.3.5. Incompatibility . ..