"Significant step" towards final version of statute

"Significant step" towards final version of statute

Collegium members expressed “a strong belief” that a solution will be reached that will make possible for the new statute to be adopted by a two-third majority of members of the Vojvodina parliament and that this process will be completed successfully by June 6, as envisaged by the Constitutional Court of Serbia.

The text of the draft statute of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina "is additionally consolidated and will be submitted to members of the Collegium for further harmonization within parliamentary groups," states the release issued by the Collegium, which includes the speaker, deputy speakers and the secretary of the provincial parliament, and leaders of MP groups.

The participants agreed to hold another session of the Assembly Collegium by May 7, before the session of the Committee on Issues of Constitutional and Legal Status of the Province, which will be scheduled for May 8.

The session of the Vojvodina Assembly dedicated to the debate on this document is planned for May 13, states the release.

The text of the draft statute defining the constitutional and legal status of Serbia's northern province was put forth by the expert working group appointed by the competent committee of the Vojvodina Assembly, which tasked the group with adjusting the act to the Serbian Constitution.

If the document wins the support of two thirds of MPs, the draft Vojvodina statute will be forwarded to the Serbian National Assembly for discussion and adoption.

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia declared as unconstitutional two thirds of provisions from the Vojvodina Statute on December 5, 2013, and set a six-month deadline within which the document needs to be adjusted to the Serbian Constitution, thus ensuring that the work of the provincial institutions would not be interrupted in that period.

The deadline set by the Constitutional Court expires on June 6 and the Serbian parliament should adopt the new Vojvodina statute by that time.